• CASE 1—WHAT IF...?

• CASE 2 —PHOTOGRAPHY ARRIVES

• CASE 3—VISIBLE REMNANTS

• CASE 4 —ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PAST

• CASE 5—PEELING BACK THE LAYERS

• CASE 6—TIMELESS ACTIVITIES

• CASE 7 —ENCROACHMENT OF URBANIZATION

• CASE 8 —COLONIAL SITES DURING THE CIVIL WAR

• CASE 9—EVOLUTION OF HISTORIC SITES

• CASE 10 —RESTORATIONS

• CASE 11—RE-ENACTMENTS

• CASE 12 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. I

• CASE 13—HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. II

• CASE 14 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. III

• CASE 15 —HENRY WHEELER'S EYE PT. IV

• CASE 16—DOCUMENTING OF CONDITION

• COLONIAL AMERICANA TODAY

• EXHIBITS PAGE

• CLEMENTS LIBRARY

Colonial Photography—Viewfinder on the Past

Henry M. Wheeler's Eye for History

Case 12

The camera was quickly seen as a powerful tool by scientists and naturalists. Historians were slower to catch on to the value of the photographic record. There were exceptions. Among them was Henry M. Wheeler of Massachusetts, who deliberately and with great artistry captured both the appearance and the spirit of the colonial architecture of New England as it existed in the late 19th century.

Wheeler had an eye for both documentary and pictorial value. He chose both well-known and overlooked colonial sites, and visited famous Revolutionary War and federal government monuments. He captured distinctive colonial roadside markers and early American headstones.

Although Wheeler was a determined documentary photographer, he is also an artist. His style fits neatly into a 19th century romantic sensibility of the picturesqueÑbut never overly sentimental or contrived. WheelerÕs use of light, shadow, and space delineate an emptiness that allows room for mood, spirit, and the presence of a "ghostly" colonial past.

Henry M. Wheeler. Saltonstall House, Ipswich. Gelatin silver print. Ca. 1890s.

Henry M. Wheeler. Old House, Uxbridge. Cyanotype print. Ca. 1890s.

Henry M. Wheeler. Peter Bend House, Marlboro. Cyanotype print. Ca. 1890s.