Original B.A. Gifford Vintage Silver Print, Oregon's Indian Madonna - c. 1905 for Sale

Original B.A. Gifford Vintage Silver Print, Oregon's Indian Madonna - c. 1905 For Sale

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Original B.A. Gifford Vintage Silver Print, Oregon's Indian Madonna - c. 1905:
$750

Oregon's Indian Madonna - c. 1905by
Benjamin A. Gifford(1859-1936)
This in a Genuine Vintage Silver Print Circa 1905.
While it is said that this is Giffords most famous image it is virtually impossible to find another anywhere on line. Only low quality reproductions appear to be available
Gifford was born in DuPage County, Illinois. After briefly attending college, he worked for several years as an apprentice in photo galleries in Kansas and Missouri, before becoming a partner in his own studio in Ft. Scott, Kansas.

After his marriage in 1884, he and his wife Myrtle moved to Portland in 1888, and by 1891 had opened a studio across the street from the Hotel Portland. Gifford was the first photographer in Portland to use electric lights for making enlargements.

About 1895 he moved to The Dalles and operated a studio there, though he maintained strong ties to Portland. Gifford returned to Portland in 1910, where his son Ralph took over operation of the studio in about 1920. After his first wife died in 1919, Benjamin married Rachel Morgan, who had worked in his studio, and they moved to Clark County to a home they called "Wa-ne-Ka" after his famous photograph, "Sunset on the Columbia".

Known for his images of Native Americans and scenic views of the Columbia River and the Columbia River Highway, Gifford publishedArt Work of Oregon(1900) and a view book titledSnap Shots on the Columbia(1902). More recently, his photographs were featured in the bookOregon, Then & Now(2000), by Portland photographer Steve Terrill.