Edward H. Kemp Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: PAAC-0027

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The bulk of the holdings in the Photo Archives are of Southwestern subjects dating to the mid-1920s. The approximately 250 prints includes photographs of New Mexico landmarks and places, San Gabriel Ranch, Pecos River, Conjilon Camp, Santa Fe Fiesta, Grand Canyon, Colorado scenes, Taos, Albuquerque, Harvey Cars, Pueblos and some California. Photographs are sorted in folders by Kemp numbers but listed below by negative number. Collection also includes one photo album of 6”x 8” prints.

Dates

1899 - 1941
Majority of material found within 1923 - 1929

Creator

Kemp, E. H. (Edward Henry), 1868-1948 (Person)

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to researchers on an appointment basis only, pending approval of application to view original material.

Copy Restrictions

Permission to publish must be obtained from Photo Archives. Online Request Permission form available at: http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/photo_request.html. User responsible for all copyright compliance.

Biographical Information

Edward H. Kemp (1868-1964) along with his wife and partner, Josephine A. Kemp (active 1899-1935), were commercial photographers best known for their still photographs and motion pictures for travelogues. Mrs. Kemp wrote in Camera Craft magazine about a trip to Arizona to document a Native American snake dance in 1905. Their illustrated lectures included movies of building the Panama Canal in 1912. The Kemps' also made photographs for Sunset magazine, published by Southern Pacific from 1898 to 1914. The Kemps' had a San Francisco business that made, sold, and traded lantern slides.

Josephine was an amateur photographer, author and lecturer, as well as partner with her husband in an audio-visual business in San Francisco starting about 1909. They were very active in the California Camera Club beginning about 1899 and were frequently mentioned in that organization's monthly journal Camera Craft. The Kemps' traveled widely in search of subject matter for their "show and tell" stereopticon and lantern slide lectures. They visited the Southwest in the summer of 1904 and in August of 1905 made a second trip to document Indian dances. They produced motion pictures as well as lantern slides.

The following quote from Camera Craft (December 1905: 270) reveals the Kemps' local prominence: “Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Kemp visited the Snake Dance ceremonies of the Moki [Hopi] Indians again this year and as usual secured a fine collection of negatives...they [also] succeeded in making several very successful series of moving pictures. These were shown here during the last month and elicited a great deal of admiration from the large audience which filled the Alhambra theatre on the evening of Mrs. Kemp's lecture. Theirs are believed to be the first satisfactory moving picture films secured during one of these weird ceremonies.”