In the autumn of 2003, I attended a memorial service for a good friend, Mr. Ed Segal, who was a successful panoramic photographer in the Washington, DC area for more than 40 years. When the congregation was invited to share their memories of and experiences with him, I remarked that while he may not have had the fame and fortune as some of the “big names” of photography, my friend’s contribution to photography’s collective body of knowledge may have been no less important.
This contribution took many forms. First, Ed was a panoramic photographer who used the Cirkut Camera, which celebrated its 100th Anniversary this year. Known as the workhorse of the industry for generations, it requires knowledge and skill that are not widely disseminated. Many Cirkut photographers have to find the answers to problems by themselves or through networking. There is no instruction book that comes with the camera. You can’t go to your neighborhood photography store to get one fixed. You are basically on your own. Therefore the best Cirkut photographers, like Ed, have to combine intuition and innovation in order to be successful.
Ed was primarily a group photographer, a business ideally suited for the Cirkut Camera user. These group shots however, did more than earn a man a decent living. They provided a unique and contemporary visual documentation of the Washington, DC area. This documentation was told by the people who attended conventions, visited landmarks and participated in special events. Not only did they want to be remembered for doing so, they wanted to be pictured along with their families, friends and colleagues. Group photography requires a special talent, and similarly to the operation of a Cirkut Camera it demands a lot patience, artisanship and expertise from the individual.
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The #10 Cirkut Camera
Collection of William "Bill" McBride
Mr. Segal was also a de facto archivist for a large collection of historic panoramic negatives and prints. Ed had purchased the business, Capitol Photo Service, from the widow of Fred Schutz. Mr. Schutz was himself a prominent and successful panoramic photographer in the Washington, DC area from roughly 1915-1965. So with the business came all of the work (negatives, prints, etc.) that Mr. Schutz had done during his lifetime. This work paints an extraordinary historic picture of the area and was a perfect compliment to the work Mr. Segal was doing until he passed away. Fortunately, Mr. Segal wisely saw the merits of keeping and preserving Mr. Schutz’s work.
Personnel Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Dept., Washington, DC, Dec. 1918.
Taken with a #10 Cirkut Camera by Fred Schutz.
Still Picture holdings of the US National Archives.
If we were therefore to distill Mr. Ed Segal’s contribution to photography’s collective body of knowledge to a few words, we would include his knowledge of historic techniques, his contemporary work and the historic work he sought to preserve.
Mr. Segal has been used thus far to illustrate a point. To be clear, this web site is not about Ed, but about a much broader subject.
My friend Ed chose panoramic photography as his business and outlet for his creativity. I don’t know whether he knew or sought this at the onset of his career, but for whatever reason, widespread recognition and appreciation – especially in the art world - are not often bestowed onto panoramic photographers. We may be an active, vibrant and close-knit community, but we are often overlooked in the study of photography as an art form.
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Nurses, Camp Hospital No. 52. LeMans, France. March 1919.
By Paul Richards - Montgomery, Alabama.
Still Picture holdings of the US National Archives.
Mr. Richards was a prolific panoramic photographer in the early 20th century.
