<Begin Segment 54>

AI: Well, and so then how did it happen that your old boss from Minidoka, who you had done the photography work with, he, he moved to Chicago. And then you were in touch with him, and how it happened then that that you both began working at a photo studio there?

PB: Well, after he came to Chicago, he called me up, and he was working for a large school studio as a printer. And he said that they were in need of a finisher, someone to do spotting and mounting and keeping books on the films and negatives and making, printing proofs and all kinds of things. So I was very happy about going back into photography, but I didn't like the idea of having to go downtown, because then I would have to make that trip back and forth. But I knew the business, because I had learned all about photography in camp, so I thought, well, at least it would be a permanent job if I qualified. So I decided to go down and that got me started in the photo business again. And I did everything; all kinds of things from making proofs and spotting, and spotting was something that you had to learn, and it was very delicate work and you had to get just the right shade because you're working on people's faces and everything, and you're taking out the blemishes. I got so that I handled the brush very well, so I had a permanent job then.

AI: My goodness, that sounds like a lot of, in some ways, tedious, but taking a lot of time and attention to every detail.

PB: Well, it was something that was interesting, and then gradually I was told that I could start coloring pictures, because that was my main interest, was to get into coloring. And I had started that in camp, and then I met one of the women in the studio that had a former studio of her own. And of course, she was all around help, she could, she was a photographer on her own, she had her own studio at one time. So she gave me pointers on tinting photographs, and that really interested me because I thought, "Well, here's a field that I'm going to pursue from now on." So I really, I worked for quite a number of years at this Root Studio run by a brother and sister. But it seemed like I was doing more finishing work, and I became in charge of the finishing department, but I still wasn't completely happy, because what I wanted to do was getting into, as a full colorist and color photographs. So I was even practicing at night, after working all day.

AI: Wow. So it sounds like you were, that was something that you really were very interested in, you could see that as a real career.

PB: Well I was ambitious. [Laughs] I had to be ambitious, you know, so I worked a lot in coloring, and every chance I got, I was coloring pictures. And I began to get tired of... what we did mostly was school work, and although I was in charge of the finishing department, I did have difficulty with some of the girls, and I didn't particularly like that part because I felt that if I got into coloring, I could more or less be on my own; I could do home work, I could do extra work, so I was kind of looking around for another studio, a different type of studio. Not a school type, but one that did more portraiture like weddings and things like that. And then I happened to see this ad of Dubois Studio wanting a finisher. So I talked to my friend, and he said, "Well, if you're gonna go, I'd like to go, too." So we made an appointment to go and see the studio, and we were quite impressed by the Dubois Studio, because they did lot of weddings, and although it was south, we had quite a distance to travel, we decided to make the move. And when we told our employer, she was very upset because we had always been like the mainstay of the, a certain group of us that stayed year-round. And like any store or organization, when they're busy they'll put on extra help, but when the season is over, then they just keep a certain number of people. And we were the main people; he was the head printer and I was doing the finishing department end of it, so she was very upset when we said we were both going to move. But it seemed like I wasn't making any headway, so I might as well try something new. So we both changed jobs, and we went, moved to the Dubois Studio.

<End Segment 54> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.