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 | | An
early stereograph made by Charles H. Shute, ca. 1865. Here Richard G. Shute serves
as model. In the image he portrays a campground visitor. A young lady is selling
apples with a sign that sarcastically declares that there will be no charge for
the crows which the apples will surely attract. The sign reads: "Crowmos
wid every 5 cent apple". The visitor asks her: "Are your Crowmos alive?
An du they eat korn?" |
While
the Shute family is known for their photo documentation of Martha's Vineyard,
Richard G. Shute was actually born on Nantucket in 1844. His father, Charles H.
Shute, moved the family to Edgartown and opened a furniture and general store
in 1846. Sensing a growing popular interest in photography, Shute opened a photo
studio above his store, ca. 1858. We do not have a written record of Richard Shute's
education and technical training; yet we can assume that he apprenticed with his
father at the family's Edgartown photo studio.
With the use of the daguerreotype
in the 1850's in the United States, American consumers became increasingly interested
in the use and creation of a photographic record. The Shute family studio was
well positioned to tap into both the emerging island market and the growing tourist
industry. They were not alone in competing for the attention of potential clients.
(The family's most notable competitor was Enoch Cornell, who had opened a photo
studio in 1858 atop his Main Street store and ice cream parlor.) Along
with a vocational training in photography, Richard Shute also learned to play
the snare drum. His father served as the leader of the town band in the years
leading up to the American Civil War. With the outbreak of fighting in 1861, Richard
Shute came to serve as a drummer in the 40th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
which participated in campaigns as far away as Virginia. At one point during a
presidential visit to the unit's camp, Shute even briefly met Abraham Lincoln.
Surprised by the drummer's slender build, the President asked the young man if
the regiment even possessed adequate provisions to feed him. Of course the drummer
reassured the President that all was well. In serving with
the 40th Massachusetts, Shute witnessed both the horrors of war and the tedium
of camp life. Shute also must have noticed the presence of professional photographers
that accompanied the military. Many soldiers made use of these mobile photo studios
to send mementoes back home. These photographers also sought to document the battles
for a home-front audience. Having witnessed the draw of photography with his father's
island customers, Shute now saw a larger national interest and market. After
receiving a medical discharge from the military in 1863, Shute returned to Edgartown
and opened a photographic studio above his father's store. By 1865 Shute had mastered
all the photographic techniques of the day, and moved to New London, Connecticut
with friend and fellow veteran of the 40th Massachusetts, Charlie Macreading Vincent.
They had planned to establish a photographic studio on the mainland but Vincent
soon moved on to New Bedford. He had decided to turn to journalism as a career.
Shute returned home to Edgartown. Upon his return to Martha's
Vineyard in 1866, Shute entered into a successful partnership with his father.
By 1868, in addition to the main studio at No. 23 Main Street in Edgartown, they
had opened another shop and studio at No. 16 Montgomery Square in the Camp Ground.
By this time Cottage City had become a boomtown. In 1868 alone the Camp Ground
had licensed some 600 tent and cottage lots. But in addition
to the Methodist visitors, various developers had begun to market the area for
secular vacationers. By 1869 the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company had added an
additional 300 lots not far from Wesleyan Grove. The vacationers ranged from the
middle class to the wealthy, and traveled to the island mainly from Southeastern
New England. The communities included Rhode Island, Provincetown, New London,
and Nantucket. The Shutes were prepared for the arrival of this new leisure culture.
Their business card declared: "We are publishing views of the best quality
of Martha's Vineyard Camp Ground, Highlands, Oak Bluffs, Gay Head, Edgartown,
Katama, Vineyard Haven, Nantucket, A Whaling Voyage, Groups, Corals, Shells. You
should have a view of the Hermit of Nantucket, showing the Interior of his House.
Views of Cottages, Tents and Groups taken at short notice." Attempting to
meet popular tastes and changes in photo technology, the Shute studio expanded
its repertoire to include glass plates, cartes de visite, nellotypes, gems and
stereographs. The Shute family was carefully tapping into a growing market for
Inexpensive stereoscopic views of landscapes, exteriors, and staged comic studio
shots. In 1868, the duo achieved critical regional acclaim
for their Stereoscopic Views of a Whaling Voyage. The stereoscopic production
was made up of images of a model whaling ship, skiffs, and a whale. The Shute
family constructed an elaborate diorama in which they photographed a "staged"
whale hunt. The whaling series became their greatest success and a perfect example
of a photographic studio's ability to produce images for a resort market. And,
yet, this unique staged whale hunt received attention from collectors from as
far away as Europe. In May 1872 a fire destroyed the Charles
H. Shute & Son photographic studio and almost all their work. But soon thereafter
Richard G. Shute endeavored to photograph and replace the images-in particular
landscapes, seascapes, and images of Gay Head, Edgartown, Cottage City, and Vineyard
Haven. He remained in business as a photographer and dry goods merchant until
his death in Edgartown in 1923. . |
