The Restoration of the gospel began with Joseph Smith's first vision in 1820. Six years later, a French inventor, Joseph Nicephore Niepce, made the world's first photograph.
Thus, the Church and the photographic medium were born about the same time and have developed concomitantly. That has made for striking visual documentation, not only of some of the great events of Church history, but also of various aspects of the Latter-day Saint experience.That experience is highlighted in a new photographic exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art, "A Vision of Zion: Photographs of Latter-day Saint Life, 1845-1991." The 280-piece exhibit continues through Feb. 3, 1992.
Commencing with the Nauvoo period, Church history "has coincided chronologically with the beginnings of photography, and skilled photographers have recorded the people and places, the activities and practices of the Church as its members have striven to establish their vision of Zion," said museum curator Robert Davis.
A guideline in selection of the photographs, he noted, was the statement of Joseph Smith: "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness and keeping all the commandments of God." (History of the Church 5:134-135.)
Included are original photographs, copy prints, recent prints from rarely-seen glass negatives, and early daguerreogypes. Photos are arranged to simulate a time line of life: birth, childhood, young adult years, middle life and old age. Themes emerge from the time line such as pioneering, family life, work, celebrations and recreational activities, travel, rural life, baptism, temple building and missionary service.
Over half the photos in the exhibit are from Church Archives; others were borrowed from BYU, the University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah State Historical Society, the Library of Congress and numerous private collectors.
The work of more than 75 people is represented, but the exhibit highlights the careers of five major photographers, showing work samples, personal memorabilia and biographical information. The following are highlighted:
Dorothea Lange, a Life magazine photographer who was assigned to capture images of Mormon towns in Utah in 1953. She included them in a portfolio of prints she called "The American Country Woman." Her work, done in collaboration with colleague Ansel Adams, appeared in the Sept. 8, 1954, issue of Life.
Charles Roscoe Savage, an LDS immigrant from England who settled in Utah in 1860. His works feature early Salt Lake City, the construction and dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, immigrating pioneer companies and portraits of Church leaders, among other subjects.
Charles William Carter, another British immigrant. He served 14 years in the British Royal Artillery before coming to Utah, and it is believed he studied photography while in the service. His views include Church authorities, Indians, military scenes and general views of Utah.
George Edward Anderson, a protege of Savage's, whose photos from the early 1900s include Church historic sites in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. He made the photos while en route to serve a mission in England and compiled them in a leather-covered book, The Birth of Mormonism in Pictures, published by the Deseret Sunday School Union in 1909.
Craig Law, a professor of art at Utah State University, whom museum curator Davis described as "the latest in an impressive list of Utah documentary photographers who have made a significant contribution to the understanding of LDS history."
