William H. Bell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1830[1] |
| Died | January 28, 1910(1910-01-28) (aged 79–80)[1] Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Relatives | William H. Rau (son-in-law) |
William H. Bell (1830 – January 28, 1910) was anEnglish-born American photographer in the latter half of the 19th century. Many of his photographs documenting war-time diseases and combat injuries were published in the medical book,Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, and he took photographs of western landscapes taken as part of theWheeler expedition in 1872.[1] In his later years, he wrote articles on thedry plate process and other techniques for various photography journals.
Bell was born inLiverpool, England, in 1830. He immigrated to the United States with his parents as a young child. After his parents were killed in acholera epidemic, he was raised by aQuaker family inAbington, Pennsylvania, outside ofPhiladelphia.[1][2]
In 1846, at the outbreak of theMexican–American War, Bell traveled toLouisiana and joined the6th Infantry.[3]
After the end of the war in 1848, Bell returned to Philadelphia, and joined thedaguerreotype studio of his brother-in-law, John Keenan.[4] In 1852, he opened his own studio onChestnut Street, and would operate or co-manage a photographic studio in downtown Philadelphia for much of the remainder of his life.[1] In 1862, following the outbreak of theCivil War, Bell enlisted in the First Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers,[2] and saw action the battles ofAntietam andGettysburg.[3]
After the war, Bell joined the Army Medical Museum, now theNational Museum of Health and Medicine, inWashington, D.C., as its chief photographer.[1] He spent much of 1865 making photographs of soldiers with various diseases, wounds, and amputations, many of which were published in the book,Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. He also took portraits of dignitaries visiting the museum, and photographed Civil War battlefields.[1] In 1867, he returned to Philadelphia, where he purchased the studio of James McClees.[4]
In 1872, Bell joinedGeorge Wheeler's survey expedition, which was tasked with surveying American lands west of the 100th meridian, as a replacement for photographerTimothy H. O'Sullivan.[1] As part of the expedition, he captured numerous large format andstereographic landscapes of relatively unexplored areas of theColorado River basin inUtah andArizona.[1] While on the expedition, he experimented with the dry plate process, for which he would eventually become an expert.[3]
After the expedition, Bell returned to his studio in Philadelphia, and exhibited his work at the city's 1876Centennial Exposition. Following the exposition, he sold his Chestnut Street studio to his son-in-law,William H. Rau. In 1882, Bell was hired by the U.S. Navy as a photographer for itsTransit of Venus expedition.[1] While traveling toPatagonia, where the Transit was observed, Bell took a series of photographs of theRio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in Brazil.
Bell spent most of his later years doing studio work and writing technical articles for journals such asPhotographic Mosaics and thePhiladelphia Photographer, though he traveled to Europe in 1892 to photograph paintings for the Columbia World's Fair.[1]
His career spanning six decades, Bell worked in nearly every major early photographic process, including daguerreotype, collodion processes, albumen prints, stereo cards, and early film.[1] He was considered a pioneer of the dry plate and lantern slide processes, and experimented with night photography, using magnesium wire for lighting.[2] He wrote technical articles on topics such asgelatine emulsions,[5] the use ofpyrogallic acid to recover gold from waste solutions,[6] and the development of isochromatic plates.[7]
For his Wheeler Survey photographs, Bell used two cameras – an 11-inch (280 mm) × 8-inch (200 mm) for large prints, and an 8-inch (200 mm) × 5-inch (130 mm) for stereo cards.[1] He used both wet and dry collodion processes on this expedition, and his photographs are characterized by dark foregrounds with elements becoming increasingly lighter in tone as distance increases.[1] Landmarks photographed by Bell include theGrand Canyon, theMarble Canyon, theParia River,Mount Nebo, and the early Mormon settlement ofMona, Utah.[8]
Bell's work was exhibited at theVienna Universal Exposition and the Louisville Industrial Exposition in 1873, and at the Centennial Exposition in 1876.[1] His photographs are now included in the collections of theSmithsonian American Art Museum,[9] theNational Museum of Health and Medicine,[10] theLibrary of Congress' Prints and Photographs Division, and theGeorge Eastman House.[11]
He died at his home on Boston Avenue in Philadelphia on January 28, 1910, after a long illness.[3] Along with his son-in-law, William Rau, Bell's son, Sargent, and daughter, Louisa, were avid photographers.[4][3] His son, Henry, was an engraver.[3]
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