Elwyn Nordberg
was a photographer in Annandale
for nearly fifty years. He started his talk with a little
history of photography. In
1837, French inventor Louis Daguerre, exposed a sheet of silver-coated
copper, developed the image with Mercury vapor, and then fixed it with
table salt. The
pictures were called daguerreotypes. Daguerre patented the
process in 1839. Elwyn showed several examples of daguerreotypes.
In the 1850s,
photography was improved by the use of wet glass plates, which needed to
be developed immediately. In
1871, with the invention of dry glass plates, photographers no longer
needed to process pictures right away. Elwyn
said that he became acquainted with Cokato photographer Gust Akerlund
(1872-1954). Akerlund
took photos in Cokato from 1902-1954. 11,000
of his glass plates remain and are still used to make photos.
In 1888, George
Eastman, an American dry plate manufacturer, introduced the Kodak box
camera. It was
the first camera designed specifically for mass production and amateur
use.
The first
photographer in Annandale was
Theo. Wirsing. His
studio had a skylight in the ceiling. Elwyn
showed some of the old photos, including a circa 1888 photo of Annandale's
main street, the old Charles Hotel which burned, and early businesses
including City Meat Market, a drug store, Lundeen's
garage, and other street scenes. He
also showed old farm photos of horse powered threshing and oxen pulling
an early hay binder. He
also had photos of the Longworth's pioneer
home on Clearwater Lake, Bungalow
Island, Fair Haven Mill, and many more historic photos.
Elwyn said that
Ross Ives, lumberyard owner, had a good camera and credits Mr. Ives for
his interest in photography. Elwyn's
father, Orvis Nordberg, was a photographer, too, but he died when Elwyn
was five years old. Orvis
Nordberg had a postcard camera and chemicals for developing film were in
a cupboard. So
Elwyn started taking and developing pictures. As
a seventh grader, Elywn borrowed his mother's
camera and took class picnic photos. The
photos cost him three cents, and he sold them for four cents. In
1942, the yearbook was revived at Annandale High
School and
Elwyn took many of the photos for the yearbook. He
was encouraged by Mr. Tripp, school superintendent, and his teachers. Elwyn
photographed his first wedding in 1944 using his new Speed Graphic
camera. Wedding albums became his biggest business with
about 40 weddings a year. Elwyn
built a house with a studio in 1951. In
1971, the studio was moved below the Snyder Drug Store, where it
remained for 17 years. After
that, he took photos on location. Elwyn retired in 1988, but continued
to take pictures of his garden and flowers. He
still has most of the negatives of pictures he's
taken over the years.
Elwyn's
work included photographing tools for Malco catalogs, several covers for
Lakedale Telephone Company, Annandale queen
candidates, aerial photos, school photos, and photos for The
Annandale Advocate. Landscapes
and portraits were hand colored until color film was perfected. Elwyn
printed all of his color prints at home. Today,
photography is easy with digital cameras, but Elwyn prefers to work with
film in his darkroom.
Notes by
Annandale History Club Secretary
