Dr. Samuel A. Bemis (1793–1881) was one of the earliest photographers in the United States. A small number of his daguerreotypes have survived.

Biography

Bemis was a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

dentist when in April 1840 he acquired an early camera and became one of the first Americans to take a photograph. His extant daguerreotypes include views of Boston and of the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. These images are the earliest known American photographs of natural landscapes. Bemis's interest in photography began in March 1840 when he attended a series of lectures and demonstration of the daguerreotype process given by François Fauvel-Gouraud, a pupil of Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre and an agent for Alphonse Giroux & Cie., sole manufacturers of equipment endorsed by Daguerre. (Daguerre had announced his process in early 1839. Gouraud arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on November 23, 1839, there exhibited daguerreotypes in December, and in January lectured in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. By March he was lecturing in Boston with

Edward Everett Hale Edward Everett Hale (April 3, 1822 – June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian, and Unitarian minister, best known for his writings such as " The Man Without a Country", published in '' Atlantic Monthly'', in support of the Union ...

among his other students; from there he travelled on to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, and by 1842 was listed as a daguerrean in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

.) Bemis bought his daguerreotype camera from Gouraud for $51, along with twelve daguerreotype plates (16.5 x 21.6 cm) at $2 each. His total investment was $76 ($ in dollars), a considerable sum. (This is believed to be the first camera sold commercially in the United States.) Four days later, on April 19, 1840, Bemis made his first daguerreotype. His early pictures were taken in Boston. When summer came, he photographed in the White Mountains around

Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...

, where he had recently relocated. Bemis was not a masterful technician; his remaining images show inadequate processing of the daguerreotype plates. Bemis actively daguerreotyped until October, 1843, and evidently took up other hobbies. His camera apparatus is on display at the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

along with the original bill of sale and some of his images. In

, Bemis bought land from innkeeper

Abel Crawford The Crawford family of the White Mountains were a family who moved to New Hampshire's White Mountains in the 1790s from Guildhall, Vermont, and were pioneers in establishing a tourist industry in that area. Abel Crawford and his father-in-la ...

, who had pioneered tourism in the White Mountains. This property included most of today's

. Spurned in romance shortly after his move, Bemis built a granite mansion and became an eccentric recluse. At one time called "the Lord of the Valley", Bemis named a lake, mountain, brook, ridge, and other spots in the White Mountains for himself. In an obituary published in 1881, he was described as "not as odd as might be expected, yet sufficiently so to distinguish him from the ordinary run of men." His house, now known as the Notchland Inn, currently operates as a bed-and-breakfast establishment. Bemis is buried beside the house.

Collections of his images

(19 plates and his two cameras) *

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...

(4 plates)

Manuscripts

* The Bemis papers were recently donated to th
Conway Public Library
Conway, NH by Ed Butler and Les Schoof, owners of th
Notchland InnRead the press release announcing the donation

References

* Rudisill, Richard. ''Mirror Image: The Influence of the Daguerreotype on American Society.'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1971. p. 283. * Newhall, Beaumont. ''The Daguerreotype in America.'' New York: Dover Publications, 1976. pl. 3. * Bermudes, Robert W., Jr. "Samuel A. Bemis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bemis, Samuel 1793 births 1881 deaths Photographers from Massachusetts Artists from Boston 19th century in Boston 19th-century American photographers 19th-century American dentists