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H. H. Bennett, Photographer; His American Landscape
A new biography of Wisconsin photographer, Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843-1908) whose images captured both rugged landscapes and manufactured cityscapes with an artistic eye. Wes Cowan of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc., History Detectives, and featured appraiser on PBS's "Antiques Roadshow,", says "H. H. Bennett, Photographer, portrays Bennett as a husband, father, entrepreneur, booster, and preservationist and ranks among the best of a mere handful of biographical accounts of a nineteenth-century photographer’s life.”
Henry Hamilton Bennett shortly after being discharged from the Union Army.
Henry Hamilton Bennett came to Wisconsin from Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1857, at the age of 14. He fought in the Civil War, was wounded, and returned to Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells) to pursue a new career in photography. The story of his life is one of peril, romance, failure, success and sorrow. This volume will contain a large variety of Bennett's photos -- of cityscapes, Wisconsin countryside (including the Apostle Islands, Waupaca's Chain o'Lakes, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Chicago) as well as the Minnehaha Falls and the St. Paul's Ice Carnival in Minnesota and his iconic images of the Dells.
Ashley Bennett leaping the chasm at Stand Rock. Photo taken by H. H. Bennett with his new "instantaneous shutter" in 1886.
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LIBRARY JOURNAL review:
A chance encounter by a young John Szarkowski (eventually curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art) with Bennett's early work would result in his eventual retroactive inclusion in the developing study of American photographers. Bennett captured the vision of his locality, contributed to the advance of photographic technique, and promoted photography as a public relations tool. The period of his activity, the late 19th century, was one of enormous growth in the social and cultural interests of the nation. Bennett's panoramic images allowed one to view the landscape from a single point and still encompass the grand scale of the image. As the face of the Midwest changed, so did the work of this distinctive artist; in his full panoply one can see both the enduring beauty of his world and the faces of those who lived in it. Throughout a lifetime of difficulties, personal and financial, Bennett never failed to observe the wonders of life and to record them for all to see for years to come. VERDICT A well-written biography of an innovator in this field, as well as a sympathetic personal account of his life and work for his followers. —Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York 
A catalog of Bennett's stereo views, "Wanderings Among Wonders and Beauties of Western Scenery," illustrated on the left (back cover) with cartoons of his more humorous exploits.
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