Field and Studio: Western Hunting Photography - Virtual Exhibit

• Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center
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• Portraits
• Hunters With Their Kills
• Hunting Camps

Untitled [Standing bear attack] Stereograph Publisher unknown, ca. 1900 2002.190	Two very theatrical, posed stereographs of bear attacks. The “fight for life” stereograph features a posed tableau of a man with a broken shotgun fighting a bear while his comrades rush in to attack with a rifle butt and hatchet. The other stereograph includes a mounted standing bear (with its base obscured by some convenient pine boughs), one man up a tree, one scrambling away, and the other attempting to shoot the bear. Oddly, the original title of this stereograph has been scratched out on the negative. It is unclear whether these stereographs were meant to be taken seriously, since even a cursory examination reveals their fakery; however, the title on the Keystone card seems to indicate a serious intent.
A Fight for Life in the Wilds of Oregon Stereograph Keystone View Company, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 1898 2003.146

This posed image of a hunter and guide is probably an advertising photograph for the Peters Cartridge Company. The two men are displaying a box of Peters cartridges for the camera in a time-honored advertising convention that can still be seen in contemporary television ads for pain relievers and similar products. The guide holds his client’s bolt-action rifle, possibly a military rifle that has been “sporterized.”	Untitled [Hunter and guide with antelope] Silver gelatin print Gus Peret Photo, ca. 1925 2003.015

Crack! Bang! Biff! The Lordly Elk’s Plunge to Death, Elk Hunt, Montana, U.S.A. Stereograph Keystone View Company, Meadville, Pennsylvania, ca. 1920 2004.227	An example of a not-very-credible attempt to create an exciting, hunting action shot for the stereograph market. Although virtually all commercially produced stereographs are posed on some level, this image is clearly faked. The dead elk is posed to give the impression of having just fallen and then the “hunter” fires his rifle for the photographer. Additionally, the “hunter” is not credibly positioned; although the commentary on the back of the card relates instances of elk charging hunters, this “hunter” is virtually unprotected and in the open.