Steam & Excursion > So, Who Exactly Were The Kinsey Photographers?

On my post about Keasey I was asked again about Clark Kinsey, who he was etc. Let me answer that here.

There were 3 Kinsey Brothers, Darius, Clarence and Clark. They were raised in Snoqualmie, WA. In the bottom photo I have posted we see the 3 brothers with thier mother. That is Darius seated at the left, with Clark standing next to him. Clarence is seated on the right next to ther mother.

Originally Darius started into the photography business and concentrated on the logging industry. Younger Brother Clark joined him for a few years and they worked together for a period of time.

During the Alaska Gold Rush, Clarence went up to the Yukon and tried his hand at gold panning. Soon that proved not to profitable bu Clark had joined him by that point in time. They both went into the Photography business called Kinsey & Kinsey Photographers. During these years they captured some of the fines photographs of the mining in the Yukon Territory.

When the gold mining played out, Clark returned to the northwest and started up his own photography business. He again concentrated on the Timber industry just as his oldest brother Darius had been doing during the years that Clark was in the Yukon.

Clark obtained an agreement from the West Coast Lumbermans Association that helped finance his business. While both Darius and Clark sold prints to the loggers in the photos for $.25, Clark also was paid to simply photograph logging equipment without people in the photos. For this reason, Clark left an even larger number of photos than Darius.

Both Darius and Clark had wives that assisted in their photography business. Darius's wife Tabitha would stay at home and do the developing of the negatives that Darius would ship her from the woods. She would package up the prints and have them shipped to the camp where Darius would sell them to the loggers.

Clark's wife, Mary, would actually travel with him and would develop the negatives right there in the Camp so they could be sold to the loggers before they moved on to a new logging outfit.

In 1918 Darius and Clark found themselves bumping into each other on occasion in the woods. Since it made no sense to compete with each other, and since there were so many logging outfits to photograph, they decided to "split up the Northwest". Darius generally too the territory from Seattle to the North and Clark too the area from Seattle to the south. They still did overlap some in the early 1930's as I have images from both Darius and Clark taken at Weyerhaeuser Timber Co.'s Vail, WA operation south of Tacoma.

Clark Kinsey covered a much larger territory than did his brother Darius. We see Clark Kinsey images taken at logging operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Northern California. By contrast, Darius photos are all taken in the northern part of Western Washington.

Both Clark and Darius were masters at the art of photographing the logging industry in it's natural environment. Darius gets a bit more credit as being an artist in him images than does Clark. That may simply be because Darius's collection has been better published and is more well know than is Clark's.

Darius stopped taking photos in 1940 when he fell off a stump in the woods and injured himself. Darius passed away in 1945. Clark worked up until 1945 when he retired. He passed away in 1956.

The Darius Kinsey Collection was purchased from Darius's widow Tabitha by a Seattle photo shop owner, Jesse Ebert in the 1940's. He held on to it after publishing some photos from it until the early 1970's when he sold it to a pair of men from the bay area who published a pair of books about the collection. They ultimately donated the Darius Kinsey Collection to the Whatcom County Museum where it still exists today.

The Clark Kinsey Collection was donated by his family to Seattle University in 1968 and it is still there.

I have attached a couple of images taken by Clark Kinsey to show you his talent. Both shots are here in Oregon at the Clark & Wilson Logging operation near Scappoose, OR. In the second view you see the logger on the pilot of Willamette #7 actually holding some of the prints that Clark was selling to the crews that day.

We are all blessed that these Brothers dedicated their lives to preserving for all time the rich logging history of the Northwest.



Martin



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/13 07:17 by LoggerHogger.

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A great Posting, and the hardback book "The Kinsey Photographs" is a showpiece of my collection--it's the first railroad book my wife ever picked up and read!

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> We are all blessed that these Brothers dedicated their lives to preserving for all time the rich logging history of the Northwest.

I doubt the goals of any of the three brothers included preserving the rich logging history of the Northwest any more than preserving the gold rush history of the Yukon. They were trying to make a paycheck, $.25 at a whack. We are very fortunate, however, that their families saw the value (monetary or otherwise) in the photos and the collections survived. Of course, those who bought the collections ultimately only had their own interests in mind since they could turn a buck or gain stature utilizing the work of others. In the end, I suppose, some benefit can trickle down from the self-serving interests of a few.

To the Kinsey boys and wives, great photos!

A tip of the hat to the Kinseys! Considering the effort they took in their photos, it was more than just at $.25 job. Their passion shows through, and for that we owe them our gratitude.

And they inspired such re-enactments as this, which Martin knows something about.

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Martin, thanks for sharing these photos.

I never appreciated pictures with the train crews in them until I went to work for the railroad. I find them fascinating to look at, and see the pride that most railroaders have about their profession. It hasn't changed much over the last hundred years. I occasionally get photos from the MOW employees on my dispatching territories, and the ones with the guys (and gals) in them are always the most interesting.

Working on the railroad isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle. I feel a bond with the guys in the pictures whether the photo was taken last week or 75 years ago.

Nomosantafe
Fort Worth, Texas
"Where the West Begins"

Well put Randy. You are correct, this is just as true today.

Martin

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Every group with an old logging locomotive loves to recreate those moments of the past.

Lurch

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Martin, my short-term memory is getting shorter and shorter. Didn't you do an article a couple months ago on another pair of brothers that were PNW logging railroad photographers, that also divided the territory between themselves?

Great story Martin; thanks!

Anybody know how to properly pronounce "Darius"?

Is it: "Dare-e-us"?

Is it: "Da-rye-us"?

Is it something else?

Thanks...

--Tom

I had a classmate in high school who pronounced it darrr-eee-us. dave, out.

I've always wondered if the Kinsey's took logging railroad portraits in British Columbia.

There are no records of Kinseys taking any logging photos in Canada.

Martin