The Photography of Lensman and Judge Ellett N. Shepherd March 2, 2012

The Photography of Lensman and Judge Ellett N. Shepherd

The Photography of Lensman and Judge Ellett N. Shepherd will be on view in the Byers-Evans House Gallery, located at 1310 Bannock Street in Denver, March 2 through April 30, 2012. A free opening reception will be held in the gallery on Friday, March 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. in conjunction with the Golden Triangle Museum District’s First Friday Art Walk.

This showing of over thirty historically significant images by former Colorado Deputy District Attorney and Criminal Court Judge Ellett N. Shepherd includes portraits and landscapes of Colorado and New Mexico, photographed during the 1930s and 1940s. Ellett Northcott Shepherd was born January 5, 1901 in Charleston, West Virginia. He attended the University of Colorado where he received an A.B. degree in 1926, and his law degree in 1928. Judge Shepherd was a member of the Denver Lensmen's Camera Club and processed his prints in his own darkroom. Shepherd won many awards for his photography including a merit award at the 1939 World's Fair in New York for an architectural photo of the Midland Savings and Loan Building titled “On Guard.” Shepherd died in Denver in 1965 at age 64.

The collection of approximately fifty images by Judge Shepherd was discovered by Camille Roth in 2008, more than forty years after Shepherd’s death, at the Denver estate sale of Shepherd’s good friend, Wayne F. Winslow. Ms. Roth consulted with Denver Public Library Senior Special Collection Librarian, Wendel Cox, who said that the photographs are a “lovely example of the camera club genre of the time, if not high art.” “I think the pictures capture the passion of someone finding a new technology that was relatively novel at the time, which he shared with the local camera club community,” Cox said “I think it’s interesting that Camille saved them from anonymity, and she did that with the new technology of this time by putting them on a blog to share with the world.”

The showing of Judge Shepherd’s work will be displayed in the Byers-Evans House Gallery through April 30. Admission to the gallery is free.

For more information about Judge Shepherd and the photographs, visit http://camilledenver.blogspot.com

Snapshot

What: The Photography of Lensman and Judge Ellett N. Shepherd

Where: The Byers-Evans House Gallery, 1310 Bannock Street, Denver, Colorado

When: March 2 through April 30, 2012. Gallery open daily Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Opening reception during First Friday Art Walk, March 2, from 5 to 9 p.m.

First Friday Art Walk reception on Friday. April 6, from 5 to 9 p.m.

Cost: Gallery admission is free

Byers-Evans House Museum

Open daily, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sundays. Guided house tours 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission charged for guided tours. For further information, visit www.byersevanshousemuseum.org or call (303) 620-4933