Washington photographer subject of museum lecture
William Wilson will discuss his book on Washington photographer Asahel Curtis, who chronicled life in the state for almost 50 years, in a lecture Thursday at the Civic Center Auditorium.
MOSES LAKE — Pioneering Washington photographer Asahel Curtis, and his role in developing Washington, will be the subject of a lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Moses Lake Civic Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St.
Admission to "More Than a Photographer: Asahel Curtis and the Development of Washington" is free. Author William H. Wilson will talk about Curtis and his efforts to promote and develop Washington, and at the same time preserve its natural attractions. The lecture is sponsored by the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
Curtis's family moved to Washington in 1888, when he was 14. His older brother Edward also was a photographer, and became famous for his photographs of and historical research on Native Americans across the West. The two brothers worked together for a few years in the late 1890s; Edward ran the photo studio in Seattle while Asahel went north to Alaska during the gold rush, prospecting and taking pictures.
Edward eventually took to the road, traveling the West, taking pictures of the landscape and the inhabitants. Asahel stayed in Seattle, documenting Washington until his death in 1941. His life "spanned the era from a Washington that we would regard as sparsely settled, lacking an elaborate infrastructure and with relatively small, crude cities to a Washington that was developed and well supplied with highways, railroads and even airports and with at least four large population centers," Wilson wrote.
Curtis was employed by other photographers before opening his own studio in 1920. Between them Curtis, his photographic business partners and employees took an estimated 60,000 photographs, mostly of Washington, in a career that spanned almost 50 years.
"Also, Washington had moved from being a place in the 'far corner' where only the hardiest tourists visited, to a popular tourist destination," Wilson wrote. Asahel Curtis promoted tourism all around the state, but especially at Mt. Rainier. He worked for the establishment and development of Mt. Rainier National Park, and was one of the most influential people in its development, he said.
Curtis's photography has been subject of three books, Wilson said, so while he will talk about the pictures, he plans to focus on Curtis's life and how photography fit into it. Curtis used his pictures to promote a number of projects, including improving roads and expanding the state's irrigation network, Wilson said.
While Curtis promoted wilderness preservation, he also was interested in economic development, Wilson said. "This got him into trouble with absolutists, such as some of his fellow members of The Mountaineers (Curtis was a founder of this group, 1907), who wanted great swaths of natural scenery preserved from development, mostly for their enjoyment," Wilson wrote.
Wilson will be signing copies of his book on Curtis following the lecture. All books in the museum store will be on sale, with a 20 percent discount for members, 10 percent for non-members.