What is the importance of this B&W Picture?

[mrswhalin]

My mom found it in her husbands house, use to be his parents house. Apparently the woman from 1928 bought it for 250$. Its on the back of the original frame along with the Studio name. Any info would be fantastic!



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[frogpatch]

William Earl Burnell owned a studio in Penn Yan NY and also in Sarasota Florida later on. He was quite a famous local photographer especially in Florida. He started out as an undertaker until he was given a camera as a gift.

Here are a couple interesting links
http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/stories/journals-of-yesteryear/earl-burnell-from-undertaker-to-famous-photographer/

http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%209/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat%201933-1935%20Grayscale/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat%201933-1935%20Grayscale%20-%200078.pdf

When you open this link look for the story in the upper right quadrant of the paper.
If the photo was actually taken by him and not just developed and framed by him it is probably quite valuable. It would be quite a feat to catch that stop action in those days without a blur.

[mrswhalin]

William Earl Burnell owned a studio in Penn Yan NY and also in Sarasota Florida later on. He was quite a famous local photographer especially in Florida. He started out as an undertaker until he was given a camera as a gift.

Here are a couple interesting links
http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/stories/journals-of-yesteryear/earl-burnell-from-undertaker-to-famous-photographer/

http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%209/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat%201933-1935%20Grayscale/Penn%20Yan%20NY%20Democrat%201933-1935%20Grayscale%20-%200078.pdf

When you open this link look for the story in the upper right quadrant of the paper.
If the photo was actually taken by him and not just developed and framed by him it is probably quite valuable. It would be quite a feat to catch that stop action in those days without a blur.

I scanned through some of the articles and I guess Im not seeing what you want me to see lol is there any way you can highlight it or something? Or even tell me which column and then which paragraph?

[frogpatch]

Open the page up and hit CTRL F on your keyboard. A little screen will open up. Type in Burnell and the name will highlight. It is in the upper left just below the date of the page. The second article down from the date has the name in the headline

[frogpatch]

I believe this is he.

http://www.thepeaches.com/genealogy/brace/0213.jpg

[mrswhalin]

So how do I find out if he took the picture? Also there are questions as to whether the dog is a famous one or not. I mean, the woman who bought this is 1920's paid $250.00 for it.

[KC]

There were times in Florida where they were shooting films of Rin Tin TIn and Lassie....maybe this was Rin Tin TIn?

[fancypants]

I was thinking the same , KC !

Perhaps this was a still/single-frame , from the camera of Charles Jones (slo-mo film) of "Rinty" (the dogs' actual name) in a famous 11 foot leap .

[mrswhalin]

So where or who should I talk to about this? I would love to know the story of this picture =) It is so much more beautiful in person.

[mart]

If you can find a historian that specializes in movies and the history behind them,, they might possibly help you !! Check with museums in your area and they might point you in the right direction !!

[frogpatch]

Locate somewhere where his photos are exhibited. I tried to do a search on Google Images and all kinds of unrelated stuff comes up. I do not get why, if I put his name in quotes, totally different things appear. It's not like I can't search. It is how I make a living.
My feeling is the photo was taken in NY. 250.00 was a hell of a lot of money to pay for a photo in 1928. Granted the stock market had not crashed yet and a lot of people were living high at that time.
I feel that the picture was taken in NY not Florida. If it were it would be rarer. He shot a lot in Fla.  It is hard to tell from the landscape.  I lived in southwesten Florida for seven years and contrary to what people perceive, most of the area is scrub, not palm trees. He did not move there until 1934. He visited there for a couple months each year but the bio does not say for how many. I hate gray areas. I feel in my gut that this photo was taken by him for the owner of that dog and he worked really hard to get that shot, thus the big price tag. Who knows? I have been right and wrong equally.  

[fancypants]

I'd also suggest you do a rin tin tin search on the wikipedia site , mrs !

[KC]

When I was young (60's) my family would take vacations in our boat on the Chain of Lakes/St Johns River in Florida.  At that time they would be doing filming of Lassie and Rin Tin TIn at a camp on the river.  We could anchor away from the dock area and watch from afar and in the evening go up on shore to see where they had filmed for the day.  I can be wrong...but this looks familiar.  We could tie up to the dock at night but not go on shore late - because of bears.  They would be using the camp house on the property for filming and the docks, lake, etc..... But that was in the 60's!

Now, to this photo....makes me wonder if it is one of the original photos that made Rin Tin Tin rise to fame.
"He was sure that the dog showed signs of genius. He bought a female dog, also named Nanette, and planned to breed from the pair. Then, at a dog show, a local cameraman took some film of Rin Tin Tin jumping over a 12ft high wall. On the strength of this he was used in some short films, performing stunts such as riding a horse and diving off a pier. "  I have sent a request for the place infor where he jumped to the family.

[mart]

I read that after seeing the dog perform, he was asked to let them try out the new motion picture cameras and be the model !! That was in 1922, he made his first film in 1923 !!  In 1926, he was the most popular actor of all and received more fan mail !!  The lady bought the pic in `28 so its possible that Burnell had taken or acquired the still shots from that 1922 event !!  Remember Rin Tin Tin was not popular then so I doubt that anyone would think about keeping try out shots although they would have kept the film reels !!  Perhaps this lady found them and purchased the first action shot of  Rin Tin Tin while he was still at the top !!