The glass plate positives featured today were in a box I bought specifically for these images. I had never before scanned, uploaded, or blogged about someone else's photos, and these images started my fascination with this. In fact, more photos from other estate sales are coming in future months.
I don't know what kind of camera Schlatter used for these. The negatives were 2X3, so some kind of press camera (like a Mamiya) or a Baby Graflex come to mind. At any rate, I digitized all the glass plate negatives, which include shots from the mid-1930s (I think) of the Anasazi Ruins, including the White House Ruins and one other I haven't identified yet), cacti, the Grand Canyon, a mountain road being built, and some of the people Schlatter interacted with. These are beautiful photos and some required quite a bit of restoration. At some point someone had stuck stickers (STICKERS!) on the glass. So I had to -- carefully -- use Liquid Goo Gone Stain Remover (Google Affiliate Ad) and various razor knives to remove the stickers.
One of the images -- the most contaminated by stickers -- is of an old woman. This is the photo I present last as it's my favorite and, I think, the best in the lot. Her whole face and torso were covered with stickers. I'm not a superstitious type, but if I were what happened while I removed the stickers would have solidified in my mind that Schlatter and this woman were watching the photo restoration.
I saved her photo for last because I wanted to perfect my technique before attempting an image I liked so much. It turned out not to be too bad and none of the images were damaged by the restoration. No goo gone got on the emulsion or anything like that. My big fear was cutting myself on the glass negatives or having the razor slip in the Goo Gone and cut me.
And when I was working on the old woman's photo, that's exactly what happened. The razor slid down the glass plate and plunged pretty deeply into my thumb. But when I pulled it back, it had not cut the skin at all. The razor hit my thumb at exactly the right angle so as to push the thumb in -- and my thumb was pretty well wrapped around the blade -- and then come out without any damage to the skin.
More than that -- this will sound nuts -- before I restored her picture, I was certain she had a frown on her face. Now, I'm not so certain. Here, in no particular order, all of the glass plate positives from the collection.
I admit I've wondered if that's the photographer.
Note the 1934 Ford on the right. I suppose these could have been taken during the 1940s, but there are an awful lot of young men in these photos for them to have been taken during World War II.
This looks like the Grand Canyon to me, and I think I have photos from a separate estate sale 20 years later of the same spot, but it's hard to tell without the colors.
More than any other photo in this group, I want to know where this was taken. Knowing this photo's location could really help date these images as I could rule out any year before that road was built.
Anasazi Cliff Dwelling Ruins. I don't think I identified which ruin this is yet.
Another vantage of the ruins shown above. I do not think these are the White House ruins.
My guess is that was the field expedition.
The White House Ruins
The best photo in the lot. I think she liked the photographer a great deal. Her expression seems to be equal parts admiration and thinking the guy is silly for taking an old woman's photo.
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