Darius Kinsey on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Darius Kinsey (1869–1945) was a photographer active in western 
He worked as an itinerant photographer for several years, until meeting Tabitha May Pritts at
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
from 1890 to 1940. He is best known for his large-format images of loggers and phases of the region's lumber industry. He also photographed locomotives and landscapes and (especially early in his career) did studio work.
Kinsey, born in Maryville, Missouri
Maryville is a city and county seat of Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. Located in the "Missouri Point" region, As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,633. Maryville is home to Northwest Missouri State University and Northwes ...
, moved to Snoqualmie, Washington
Snoqualmie ( ) is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington, United States. It is east of Seattle. Snoqualmie city is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was 10,670 at the 2010 census and an estimated 13,62 ...
, where he took up photography in 1890.
He worked as an itinerant photographer for several years, until meeting Tabitha May Pritts at Nooksack, Washington
Nooksack ( ) is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, south of Canada–United States border, the border with Canada. The population was 1,338 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Despite the name, it is actually located right next to ...
. The couple married in 1896. The following year, they set up a photo studio in Sedro-Woolley, Washington
Sedro-Woolley is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area and had a population of 12,421 at the 2020 census. The city is home to North Cascade ...
. They had two children, Dorothea and Darius, Jr.
In 1906, the couple moved to Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. Darius gave up studio work and focused instead on the lumber industry and scenic photography. Tabitha developed the negatives and made the prints, which were sent back to the logging camps and sold to the loggers. Darius used an 11" X 14" Empire State view camera with a custom made tripod that could extend twelve feet high. He used glass plates until 1914, when he switched to film.
In 1920 Kinsey photographed the Giant Cedar Stump
The Giant Cedar Stump is an ancient tree turned roadside attraction in Snohomish County, Washington.
Natural history
The massive stump is the remain of an old-growth ''Thuja plicata'' giant arborvitae, known as the western redcedar.
Roadside a ...
near Arlington.
After falling from a stump in October, 1940, Darius was forced to give up photography. He spent the last five years of his life sorting and organizing his negatives. He died in 1945 and is buried with his wife in Nooksack.
The major collection of his work is held by the Whatcom Museum
The Whatcom Museum (housed in the Old City Hall, Lightcatcher building and Syre Education Center) was originally built in 1892 as the city hall for the former town of New Whatcom, before it was joined with surrounding towns to form Bellingham, Was ...
in Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
. The University of Washington Libraries also has a collection of his work.
Darius' brother Clark Kinsey was also a photographer of early 20th Century logging in Washington.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsey, Darius 1869 births 1945 deaths People from Maryville, Missouri People from Sedro-Woolley, Washington Artists from Seattle 19th-century American photographers People from Snoqualmie, Washington 20th-century American photographers Photographers from Missouri Photographers from Washington (state)