H.H. Bennett is viewed as one of the best landscape photographers of the 19th century. While other photographers clung to the relative safety of working within their studios, Bennett developed a passion for landscape photography in the field because, in his words, “It is easier to pose nature and less trouble to please.” He conformed to a common view of that time, which saw nature as a playground to be enjoyed, not feared.
H.H. Bennett came to know the Dells-area quite well, and was not satisfied to take just any view of an area he wanted to photograph. He took his time and persisted until he got exactly what he wanted. He is known to venture into hard to reach natural areas on occasion. If the light was bad or the angle wrong, he may return several times to the same place until he could get an image just as he envisioned.
As a result of his attention to detail, Bennett’s H.H. Bennett’s photography has been displayed in some of the most prestigious museums in the world and is prized by collectors. Bennett’s synthesis of the artistic aspects of photography, amazing technological innovations which were ahead of many contemporaries of the day, and his marketing and sales techniques were all brought together putting his studio on the forefront of the photographic art.
Image on front: Cameraman logo
Text on back:
This he perched upon a tripod-
Crouched beneath its dusky cover-
Stretched his hand, enforcing silence-
Said, "Be motionless, I beg you!"
Mystic, awful was the process.
-Hiawatha's Photographing, Lewis Carroll
