With the Turn of the Twentieth Century a New Frontier was on the Horizon within...

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

The era of land conquest was on the decline, while technological advancement was becoming the engine of progress. One path-breaking advancement was the new developing profession of photography. Invented in the Mid-Nineteenth century, photography had become, by the turn of the Twentieth Century a world-wide phenomenon, drawing in journalist and artists, as well as amateur photographers who took up this new challenge as a hobby. The men and women behind the cameras were pioneers, rendering life as it had never been seen before.

Throughout the United States, these pioneers were rapidly advancing photography--in New York by inventing a way to print a photograph in the newspaper; in Chicago by redefining the use of flash photography to capture the "slums"; and in Wisconsin Dells by creating snap-action to catch people and objects in motion. They were also redefining history and journalism by being able to capture a photograph of events and people as they happened. No longer having to rely solely on a journalist’s description or an eye-witness account, photographs allowed the world to literally “see” what was going on. This became more prevalent as the emergence of “yellow journalism” caused the credibility of newspapers to deteriorate.

In Chippewa Falls, WI, there was a local photographic pioneer by the name of A. A. Bish. His photographs helped to define a thriving frontier community in the early Twentieth Century. His collection makes it possible for the viewer today to see the evolution of this town from a rough-and-ready lumber town to an economically diversified, socially integrated community. Without the power of the photograph and those pioneers who believed in that power, our holistic view of Chippewa Falls would be incomplete.

Interestingly, little is known specifically about A.A. Bish, the man behind the camera. This anonymity about him has caused Bish to become “The Man of Mystery.” At the same time, Bish is also locally recognized as “The” photographer of Chippewa Falls. He was once famous and anonymous. His work so revered the locals themselves did not understand specifically why they would head down to Bish’s studio on Central Street; they just did.

This exhibit will explore the man, A.A. Bish, his art and profession, and the impact which one pioneer had in memorializing the town of Chippewa Falls.

Resources		Notes	Credits

Copyright© 2003 Marie Kilps All Rights Reserved. Exhibit Created and Researched by Marie Kilps. History Department, Public History Program, Univ. of Wiscosin-Eau Claire.