This past week my studio traveled to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona to investigation our site for this semester's project - an historical boat museum celebrating the rich history of boating technology on the Colorado River over the last 150 years. We had quite an adventurous time including a couple of plane rides, a helicopter ride into the canyon and a couple of days boating down the Colorado followed by three nights of camping along the South Rim to finalize our site analysis. I had been devouring information on the art of river running in the weeks previous to our trip so it was a great moment to finally confront the subject of my absorption.
During my research, I encountered the story of Ellsworth and Emery Kolb, enterprising young brothers who traveled to the the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to establish a photography business in 1903. They made their money taking pictures of tourists as they traveled on the Bright Angel Trail by mule. They also enjoyed a certain amount of canyon dare-devilry.
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| The Kolb Brothers taking it to the extreme to get the ultimate shot. | |
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In 1911 they rowed the Colorado River from Wyoming to Mexico with their film cameras in tow, pioneering the documentary film genre with moving pictures that astounded the nation. The following consists of clips from the film Emery Kolb showed to tourists at Grand Canyon National Park for over 50 years. The video is courtesy of Cline Library at Northern Arizona University.
The brothers built a studio perched on the edge of the Grand Canyon which Emery Kolb used to show his classic 1911 film until his death in 1976. The studio is still there today and is used to commemorate the contribution of the Kolb brothers' photography (and, of course, as a souvenir shop/bookstore).
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| Original Kolb Studo at the South Rim |
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| View of the Grand Canyon form the front porch of the Kolb Studio |
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| One of Emery Kolb's film cameras from the early Twentieth Century. |
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