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HOME
> History > History
Club > Elwyn Nordberg - Annandale Photographer
History of Elwyn's
Photography
Presentation to the Annandale History
Club
May 7, 2007
Elwyn Nordberg
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 hes 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
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