Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West, A Graphic Biography by His Great-Grandson finds cartoonist Bill Griffith taking a look at his ancestor’s life and work through his own artistic eye. He is known for his comic strip work, Zippy the Pinhead, while his great grandpa is known for his iconic photos of places like Yellowstone National Park and parts West of the Mississippi.
Buy Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American WestBorn in New York, William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) started drawing portraits at a young age and was taken in by the world of photography soon after. He began his career in photography by painting studio backdrops and hand-tinting photos before getting behind the camera himself taking portraits of anyone who paid to sit for the process. Taking pictures in those early days took patience as it could take up to five minutes for the camera to capture an image. Sometimes requiring the use of such tools as a hidden head brace to help subjects maintain their posture as the photo made its imprint on the glass negative.
The American Civil War interrupted Jackson’s apprenticeship but didn’t keep him from drawing and making portraits of his army officers. After the War Between the States and guarding supply lines at the battle of Gettysburg, Jackson headed west with a wagon train as a mule driver after a brief time back in New York and a failed romance. He took a liking to the West and its open, untouched landscape. He eventually landed a job with the railroad where he’d take photos of the route’s highlights. Jackson roamed with the buffalo and captured many images along the way. Not only iconic locations like the geysers at Yellowstone in Wyoming but also the people who lived in those regions as well. From Native Americans to prospectors to cowhands and wealthy captains of industry, Jackson photographed them all while helping to spread the magic of the photograph.
From his youth in the Civil War to having his original plate glass negatives saved from destruction by Edsel Ford and kept in the Library of Congress, Jackson’s story is a good one. Griffith manages to keep the narrative interesting and humorous. We learn how Jackson’s photos of Yellowstone not only helped popularize the area but led directly to its preservation as the first national park. We travel with Jackson and his portable wagon/darkroom as he explores and photographs amazing places for the first time like the Anasazi cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado. We are there when he nearly tumbles to his demise along with his darkroom as well as when he travels the world to Egypt, Russia, Japan, and China.
By employing flashbacks and fantasy sequences, Griffith can insert himself (and Yogi Bear at Jellystone) into the tale and speak directly with his great grandpa in order to better clarify a few things and add some modern perspective on certain events and topics like the portrayal of the Native Americans in the 19th century. Griffith also cleverly illustrates the passing of time and advancing technology by highlighting certain things like the horse and buggy to the Ford Model T and the rise of the Automat, a coin-slot operated, early version of a fast-food eatery popular in the 1930s.
With Photographic Memory: William Henry Jackson and the American West, Bill Griffith recreates his great grandfather William Henry Jackson’s long life and masterful work in a way that makes it all come to life and leap off the panels in this graphic biography. The comic book/graphic novel medium also makes the subject more accessible to people who may not want to read Jackson’s wonderfully titled but dated autobiography, Time Exposure. Also included at the back of the book are a few clear, beautiful reprints of some of Jackson’s photos which once hung on sitting room walls and were sent along as post cards. There is even an amusement park scene where a pinhead can be seen waving at patrons.
