File:Clark Kinsey in studio with photographic equipment, ca 1899 (PORTRAITS 57).jpg

Filed in Portraits--Kinsey, Clark

Kinsey, Clark (1877-1956): Born in Missouri and raised near Snoqualmie, Washington Territory. He first practiced photography in the early 1890s with his brothers Darius and Clarence. From 1894 he operated studios in and north of Seattle with his brother Darius. They would travel during the summertime from place to place in small localities throughout northwestern Washington, using a large portable tent as a studio. The partnership eventually dissolved, and in 1897 Clark Kinsey went to the Klondike. Although he engaged in mining for several years in this place, he was most successful with photography, having a studio as well as documenting in the field the many mining and engineering projects and the scenery of the Yukon Territory. About 1906 Clark returned to the Snoqualmie area to operate a contracting firm, which he moved to Seattle in 1908. Concentrating on street and highway construction, he attended to various large projects in Seattle and King County, eventually relocating his firm to Vancouver, B.C. In 1913, however, he once again took up his camera as a professional photographer, specializing in the wood products industry, very much like his brother Darius. Together they divided the territory, Clark operating mostly south of the Seattle area and Darius usually the north. Clark's career continued for more than thirty years, producing more than 50,000 image of logging camps, milling operations, equipment and crews. During World War I, he thoroughly documented the Spruce Division camps in Washington and Oregon and, in like manner, the Depression era's Civilian Conservation Corps some years later. His commercial success stemmed from a liberal patronage by the lumber company management and by the endorsement of the WestCoast Lumberman's Association. His access secured to private company properties, he exposed his plates and developed them virtually in the field, in temporary darkrooms or tents. He was thus able to offer instant service, a feature not characteristic of most photographers of his time. Clark Kinsey retired from active work in 1945.

• Subjects (LCTGM): Photographers--Washington (State); Photographic apparatus & supplies; Photographic studios
• Subjects (LCSH): Kinsey, Clark