Kolb Brothers

[Mule train in the Grand Canyon]

Grand Canyon, AZ: Kolb Brothers, September 16, 1926. Black and white photograph [18 cm x 12.5 cm] in a gray Kolb Brothers sleeve/matte. Image and Kolb sleeve/matte is nice. Item #11036

Image shows nine mule riders lined up on the Bright Angel Trail, the group is mostly female. Reverse has a printed Kolb Brothers advertisement and a five paragraph history of travel in the Grand Canyon, beginning with Powell in 1869 and continuing on to a brief history of the Kolb Brothers Studio and prices.

The legendary Kolb Brothers, Emery & Ellsworth, opened their studio in 1904, perched on the rim of the Grand Canyon. The building is still standing, but is now operated as a museum and gallery. They took countless images of the Canyon and the Colorado River below. This is not a sleeve/matte I have encountered previously.

Ellsworth and Emery Kolb were brothers, born in Pennsylvania, interested in photography and the 'Wild West.' In the winter of 1911, they made the first motion picture of a river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, where the brothers were repeatedly tossed into the river by their bucking boats. At one memorable point, as Ellsworth struggled to stay afloat in the roiling Colorado, Emery captured the moment on film before rushing to his brother's rescue.

Photographing the Grand Canyon was not an easy task in the early 1900s. Patience, determination, and physical strength were required to deal with cumbersome equipment and unforgiving conditions. Whenever possible, Emery and Ellsworth used burros to transport the bulky equipment on their Canyon explorations. But their best pictures were often taken in locations inaccessible to the animals, and they relied on their own brawn and balance to carry the cameras while climbing the Canyon walls, these exploits soon earned them the title 'daring photographers of the Grand Canyon.'.

Price: $100.00