A Photographic Study of Dorothy Jarvis & The Brookhill B&B Connection
To others of what I collect may be nothing but more than another image or object but to me its history. That's what I make of it. This video is an example of a portion of my collection of images I have found in my travels. I'm drawn to family collections, films or Photographs.
The story behind this collection is complicated and then not. I found them on a street corner not by chance I have to say. Not at a yard sale but at a friends sidewalk who offered them to me that is all. I noticed they were matted and signed and saw the subjects. I felt they were special and that there had to be some kind of story behind them. I felt a connection.
I have many other family photographic albums that have been discarded over time and i have picked them up but for some reason i felt I had to rescue them to preserve them. This collection is one of many I have preserved but because of the recent discovery finally a puzzle solved I know the person behind the camera a bit more and that she has a surviving relative to this day. What a wonderful find but it took a long time. You wouldn't believe the satisfaction of finding someone who was related to the images I had found.
I put the Internet to the test for a few years trying to figure our who this person was. But it wasn't easy.. I had the matted images that were signed and one with another name so that I had to go on. I found tid bits of information finding out she was a well known photographer in her day. Her subjects were often landscapes and portraits, Children and mothers and families.
Some of her images were to be found in archives in very prestigious museums and libraries but who was Dorothy Jarvis? Well after many years of holding onto these images and collecting other lost family photos one day I was talking with a friend about collections and what we didn't know about them. We decided to do another simple search. But this simple search came up with something I had never seen before. This was more personal, someone who was related to Dorothy Jarvis. WOW I said to my friend when I told him I had the other frame of an image shown at an Inn / home of a relative of this woman! This was the Holy Grail and so personally rewarding and exciting.
It lead me on to contact this site and the person behind the site..I saw the other image I had and found out it was her great aunt. What a wonderful find her great aunt had a legacy a history to be proud of and boy was it interesting.. She was thrilled as so was I. Not only was she so close but I knew that because of the previous history I had gathered of this photographer as to her studios and so on. Her relationship to the White mountains of New Hampshire which I am so fond of myself was just a wonderful find. Not miraculous but a good one at that.
I visit there often since my husband is from New Hampshire and I was never a stones throw away myself there and near by the location of the Inn. God she was so close all these years but why no information on the Internet?
We will visit of course to view the majestic views we know so well but to try and look from another eyes perspective from long ago. I'm so thrilled to have held onto this wonderful treasure trove of images to appreciate where the images came from and that I am lucky enough to walk the country side she once photographed before me.
I will pass these onto the family they belong to because they need to go home and to be displayed there. I was just lucky to have come across them when I did. A story in itself. Dorothy Jarvis photographs can be found in the archives of the Smithsonian Institute & the Gardner Museum along with the archives of the Art Museum Of Wellesley College ( Camera Portraits & Photographic Studies) by Dorothy Jarvis, Mrs. Edward Chauvenet Holden, Master Craftsman of the Society of Arts and Crafts.
I thank Wilma R. Slaight, Archivist for being so kind to send me the historic data on an exhibition Dorothy Jarvis held back on Feb. 13, 1936 at Wellesley College. Dorothy Jarvis images can also be seen in landscape architectural books. She photographed many images for Ellen Biddle Shipman, the landscape architect. Another Story in itself but wonderful history to read!
The remaining relative I discovered of these images lives presently at the very place Dorothy Jarvis owned and named and lived with her husband. There's so much more I could lend on this story but its a journey you will have to take yourself from here...you must read up on the art community in Cornish NH to understand the culture when Dorothy and Ellen Shipman lived. I only have found one portrait of Ms. Shipman on the Internet. I'm not sure if she is in this collection but if anyone can identify her or anyone in these photos I would appreciate it.
The place where Dorothy lived during her summers is now the home of Susan & Rod Forsman. I don't know how many times I have been by there but now I will make a note to stop in and take a closer look. What a wonderful location and historic view.
Another tid bit of information on Dorothy is that she had also collaborated in the writing of a book or textbook on photography techniques of her time in landscape and portraiture. Lighting & subject where her forte.
I guess what I do really is to share photographs of families so they are never forgotten.
Dorothy Jarvis living relative Susan... take a look at the site and pay a visit. It's always nice to walk in the past and revisit history.
Brookhill Bed and Breakfast:
"Unique Lodging in North Conway NH, with a Spectacular View!"
PO Box 221, Balcony Seat View, North Conway, New
Hampshire 03860
888.356.3061 | stay@brookhillbb.com
This was the image they had on the Inns site.
This was the Image I had and sent to them. They had never seen their Aunt & Uncles faces until now.
The Inn Today. I know it doesn't look like much from the front but the view is breathtaking.
Your hobby has taken you to some interesting places! I often think that an affinity for genealogy (which I suppose is fairly similar to what you are doing, just with somebody else's family instead of your own!), are sort of like those who have an affinity for science. There is quite a lot of study and research involved, and the ultimate in patience is required. Sometimes the path to get where you're going cannot be seen at all (how could you use the internet to match a photo?!), and the way is often similarly murky in science ... you simply have to keep trying different things until something sticks. You need quite a bit more imagination for your job though! Being able to put yourself in Dorothy's shoes makes it all worthwhile.
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Yes my hobby has taken me on some interesting journeys and introduced me to some very interesting people as well. I finally did meet this woman's great niece who inherited the Inn at Brookhill in NH she built and lived in with her lover for many years. She finally married him I think after 19 years. It just took one more search on the Internet to connect the dots and confirm it was her family and a few emails back and forth to the woman who had no idea these images even existed.
I found the Inns site by searching for Dorothy Jarvis on the Internet one more time after holding onto these photos for almost 9 years myself. When I saw the site and browsed down the page I came upon an image almost duplicate to the one I held in my hand of Dorothy. Bingo I said and I was so thrilled. The only difference between the image on the site of this couple that was taken in the original Inns living room was the couple in the photo facing each other. Mine had them looking out at the camera. You could see their faces.
When I contacted the owners of the INN and told them I had the same image and more and sent them to them they were so excited because they had never seen their aunts face on. Once confirmed it was the family of Dorothy Jarvis I sent her home. I shipped the images back to the family and they were going to hang them in the INN. The daughter of the present owner said to her mother "Mommy now Aunt Dorothy is looking at us" imagine never seeing the face of a relative that left you the home you were living in?
My husband and I visited the Inn and met with the the owners who just happened to live not far from us all those years. It made me feel good to solve a mystery that I held onto for so long and believed she was special. Some of her photos are in the Smithsonian and published in well known architectural landscape publications and more. She wrote a few books on portraiture back in the 30's and lived a fascinating life up until her death in 1955.
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