Tim Greyhavens
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thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Tim Greyhavens
@thegreyhavens.bsky.social
350 followers 490 following 210 posts
Photo historian, lover of art and life. Author of Artistic and Life-Like: Photography in Washington, 1850-1900. #photohistory www.timgreyhavens.com
"I've never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." ~Daniel Boone
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thegreyhavens.bsky.social
I love reading about the challenges and triumphs of early #womenphotographers. Here's some great research on Californians Amanda Genung, a daguerreotypist and ambrotypist, and Jane Cary Howard, ambrotypist and Amanda’s business partner.

#photohistory

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6petl...
November 23, 2025 at 12:13 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
If you see a ghost of a one-armed man lurking among some gravestones tonight, don't be alarmed. He's just looking for his lost arm.

#halloween
#gravestones
#scarygraveyards
Photograph of a very old tombstone in a grass-covered graveyard. The writing on the tombstone says "Lost Arm of F. Stewart, Sept. 27, 1910."
October 31, 2025 at 8:59 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
If you like watching scary films for Halloween (or any other day) but don't have time for a full-length film, I highly recommend these short but creepy gems by my son, Teal Greyhavens.

#horrorfilms
#scarymovies
#halloween

www.inkrunfilms.com/work
October 31, 2025 at 5:20 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
#NoKings protest right now #Seattle
October 18, 2025 at 7:27 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Happy World Photobook Day! What better way to celebrate than to look back at the beginning of photography and its growth in Washington State? It's filled with over 200 photographs that show the growth of the medium and its impact on our society.
Advertisement for my book, Artistic and Life-Like: Photography in Washington, 1850-1900. Available now through your local bookstore or online for $45.
October 14, 2025 at 4:09 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 1:37 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
It has some definite similarities with the U. S. Library of Congress Reading Room.
September 13, 2025 at 1:35 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Fixed your headline for you, @nytimes.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:10 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
August 14, 2025 at 12:31 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Such a wonderful and yet unusual portrait. Theo van Rysselberghe - Portrait of Irma Sèthe. 1894. Musée du Petit Palais. What's going on with the half-exposed person in the next room whose hand captures a strangely disproportionate amount of attention?

#neoimpressionism
#pointalism
#VanRysselberghe
August 5, 2025 at 3:32 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Sadly....
August 5, 2025 at 2:26 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
For fans of early mobile photography studios, I just posted the initial results of my research about the Boston Railroad Photo Car. As many as 13 of these cars traveled throughout the American West during the 1890s.

www.timgreyhavens.com/post/the-bos...

#photohistory
#mobilepotographystudios
A vintage cabinet card photograph of a smiling girl with long, dark hair. She is sitting in a big wooden armchair and looking directly at the camera. She seems very confident in her gaze. At the bottom of the card it says "Boston-R-R-Photo-Car No 4."
August 4, 2025 at 5:59 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
E. Jane Gay, who some historians identify as America's first lesbian photographer, was born #OTD. In 1889, she accompanied her future life partner, Alice Cunningham Fletcher, on an expedition to photograph the Winnebago and the Nez Perce Peoples in the West.

#LGBTQ+photographers
#womenphotographers
Portrait of E. Jane Gay. She is a white, middle-aged white woman standing outside in a floor-length dark dress and wearing a bowler hat. Her hair is cropped short. She is adjusting a small view camera on a wooden tripod and appears to be intent on her subject (out of the picture).
July 27, 2025 at 4:13 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Some snippets of reviews for my book, Artistic and Life-Like: Photography in Washington, 1850-1900. The Seattle Book Review says, "it's a meditation on how we remember, what we preserve, and who gets to be seen." Kirkus Reviews calls it "a masterpiece of local history." The Portland Book Review describes it as "an indispensable contribution to the historical canon of the Pacific Northwest."
July 17, 2025 at 5:20 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
#OTD 117 years ago, American photographer Minor White was born in Minneapolis, MN. Over the course of his 50+ year career, he became one of the most influential photographic artists and teachers of the 20th century.

#MinorWhite
#photohistory
#LGBTQphotographers

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_W...
Portrait of Minor White, 1951, He is a middle-aged white man, balding on top but otherwise with medium-length hair. He is wearing a dark, long sleeve shirt and sits with his arms crossed. One arm is propped up on his leg. He stares away from the camera with a contemplative look. Behind him is a mostly black wall or canvas. Haags Alley, by Minor White. 1960. A black-and-white close-up photograph of the side of a wooden building. A large horizontal and a vertical cross beam dissect the square image, topped by a small dark window. Deep snow covers the ground and has stuck to the wooden frame building. It is a very peaceful image and some people may see religious overtones in it due to beams forming an elongated cross. The Temptation of St. Anthony is Mirrors. Photograph by Minor White, 1948. It shows a nude young white man, from the waist up. His head is pressed down against his left shoulder, and his arms are crossed vertically over his chest. His hands are at his should level and are opposing each other.
July 9, 2025 at 3:09 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
I urge anyone who cares about democracy and our freedom to read this book as soon as possible. It’s small and brief, and it sums up everything that’s been going on in this country for many years. Snyder packs more into his 20 points/chapters than many books ten times this size.
#nokings
July 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
During his career, La Roche made many beautiful portraits of Native Peoples in his studio. He continued as a photographer until 1928, when his adopted son Frank Jr. took over his business. La Roche died in Seattle in 1934.
A Nez Perce Native Man poses in his traditional clothing against a studio backdrop. He wears a rimmed hat, multiple necklaces, and intricately decorated leggings/ Two Yakima Women pose in their traditional clothing against a studio backdrop.
June 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Between 1890 and 1902 LaRoche is reported to have made over 100 roundtrips to Alaska. The 3,000+ photos that he took made him the premier chronicler of Alaska at that time.
A newspaper page from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 14, 1906, with the headline of "Windom Glacier, Dead for a Century, Awakes, Plows Its Way to the Sea, Photos by La Roche." The back of a cabinet card produced by Frank La Roche. It says "The Rainier Photographic and Art Studios, F. La Roches, Proprietor, 708 Sceond Street, Seattle, Wash."
June 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
In 1853 #OTD, photographer Frank La Roche was born in Philadelphia. He slowly made his way west, with stops in Florida, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans. He arrived in #Seattle just one month after the Great Fire of 1889 wiped out most of the city's downtown.

#photohistory
#Seattlehistory
A close-up portrait of Frank La Roche. He is a middle-aged bald man with a very large Hungarian-style mustache. He is dressed in a suit and tie, looking confidently to his right. An overhead view of a busy waterfront dock in Seattle in the 1890s. More than 2 dozen stage coaches and wagons line wood-planked pier next to a large, single-story, wooden warehouse. n the background are other docks and buildings on piers. A small stand advertises th ephotographer's business ("La Roche") in the midst of this scene.
June 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
May 7, 2025 at 2:13 AM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Wilson divorced Weston in 1946 after feeling continually slighted about her contributions to Weston's work and his persistence in pursuing younger women. In 1998, she co-authored a book that told her side of the Wilson-Weston relationship. At age 95, she passed away in her beloved California.
Cover of the book, "Through Another Lens: My Years with Edward Weston." It features a portrait of Weston and Wilson in front of tree bark.
May 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
In 1937, Wilson wrote an application to the Guggenheim Foundation for a project to illustrate Walt Whitman's poem, "Leaves of Grass." The couple traveled nearly 17,000 miles for 6 months, resulting in a 2-volume book. Two years later, she wrote the text for their book, "California and the West."
Cover of the book "California and the West," by Charis and Edward Weston. The top three-fifths of the cover is a photo looking through trees at a long-strewn beach. Title pages of "Leaves of Grass," a special edition of the Walt Whitman poem illustrated with photos by Edward Weston. The left-facing page shows a black-and-white picture of long grasses blowing in the wind. The title page in on the right. It says, "Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman, with an Introduction written by Mark Van Doren and Photographs made by Edward Weston for the Members of The Limited Editions Club: New York, 1942."
May 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Charis posed repeatedly for Weston, including several iconic nudes lying in the sand at Oceano Dunes. In her obituary, a writer said, "She knew exactly what she was doing — how her knee or shoulder would look turned just so, or what a good idea it would be to roll naked down giant sand dunes."
Portrait of Charis in a sitting/squatting position on the ground in front of a large rock. She is wearing a long-sleeve sweater, long pants, and high double-button botts. Her legs are spread apart, and her hands are crossed in front of her crotch. Her head is wrapped in a scarf. She looks out from the scarf directly at the camera. "Nude on Sand, Oceano," a 1935 photograph of Charis Wilson by Edward Weston. It shows her lying unclothed on a sand dune. She is on her right side and facing away from the camera. Her head is to the right and legs stretch out to the left.
May 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Charis Wilson (1914-2009) was photographer Edward Weston's girlfriend, wife, inspiration, and, for many years, essential collaborator in his work. She was born 111 years ago #OTD and was with Weston from 1934 to 1946, when he created some of his most famous images.
Edward Weston. Charis Wilson. 1923. The Lane Collection. Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Black-and-white portrait of a young white woman' from the waist up. She is looking directly at the camera, with her left arm folded behind her so her her left hand grabs her right arm. She has long hair hanging loose, smooth skin, and a classic pointed nose. She wears a simple dark-colored blouse with very short sleeves.
May 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
thegreyhavens.bsky.social
Ladd continued to exhibit photographs throughout the 1910s and '20s. After her husband died in 1920, she moved to Carmel, CA, to live out the rest of her life with her friend and artistic companion, Lily White. She died in Carmel in 1927.
Sarah Hall Ladd. Untitled, 1903-05. A distant view showing the Columbia River in the foreground and a cliff-like hillside declining from the left to the right down to the water's edge. The sky is filled with wispy upswept clouds.
April 29, 2025 at 4:09 PM