The Camera Museum

My GrandDaddy Youngblood was a big part of my earliest years.  I was three years old when he moved away from Georgia, but I do have memories of him, visiting his photography studio, and enjoying his visits to our house.  There were letters, phone calls, and visits over the years, but his presence in my life was always associated with photographs.

In recent years, since I’ve become interested in photography and have read about photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange who were contemporaries of my GrandDaddy I’ve been curious about what cameras he used.  Well, now I’ve seen some of them!

Jim and I visited the camera museum in McDonough, Ga.  You’d think that with Jim’s interest in photography, we would have been regulars.  Jim did know about the place and had planned to go, but the impetus that got us out the door and on the way was learning that my GrandDaddy Youngblood’s cameras were there!

Yes, there is a display with information about my grandfather and his son and their photography!  When we learned that some of GrandDaddy’s cameras had been donated, Jim and I were anxious to see them!  When we arrived, and told them who we were, the owners greeted us with delight and led us right to the display.

There are two of GrandDaddy’s cameras on display along with photos and a brief history of his photography.  Both cameras are view cameras, where sheet film (preloaded in the darkroom) (for one or maybe two exposures) is inserted into the camera in a holder, then into the back of the camera.  After the film is exposed, it is removed and set aside for developing. The large camera, an 8” x 10” view camera, was patented in 1890, the smaller of the two on display is 5” x 7”. 

GrandDaddy and his son, Homer Youngblood, Jr., had a studio in Georgia in the 1940’s and ’50’s.  Prior to that, GrandDaddy worked as a photographer and reporter in Seneca, SC, and later had a studio there, as well.

Interviews with family tell me GrandDaddy began work as a photographer sometime after 1918. That’s the year his first wife (my grandmother) died.  He had served in the Army during WWI, so I wonder if, like Jim, he learned photography skills as a soldier.

The Camera Museum is a passion of Scott Evans.  After 40 years as a photographer, Scott now works to restore old photos, convert old movies, slides, and photos to digital format (as the Image Doctor).  His lab is in the same building as his museum, which houses his vast collection of cameras of all sorts and anything camera related.  There are displays of spy cameras, simple box cameras, folding cameras, twin-lens reflex cameras, 35mm single lens reflex cameras, and more.

Displays of paparazzi and some of their famous shots are displayed in the restroom of the building.  The area used as holding cells when the building was used as a municipal court space now display famous mug shots (including Johnny Cash, Elvis, and others you will recognize).  Scott and his wife welcome you to come visit.  Check out their website, make an appointment for a tour, or go for a night of fun on one of their scavenger hunts! You can find them at www.camera-museum.com or www.imagedoctor.com..

When I’m making the art quilts where I print an image in black and white on fabric, then add color using ink or watercolor, I think I’m channeling my DNA into art. GrandDaddy made photos in black and white and his son and daughter would sometimes add hand tinting to them.

You may recall an art quilt I made with my GrandDaddy in it: https://sandygilreath.com/four-brothers/