Due to the interest of Jerseyman and the other fine folks who post to the Pine Barrens Forum, I am trying to keep my series of photos that John B. Capewell shot in what is known as the Pinelands of New Jersey.
The fellow in this shot looks to be one of the men standing with the Emilio Caranza monument photos from last week’s post. I’m guessing that this is one of those men shot around the same time as last week’s which would make it 1931.
I don’t know who this gentleman is or what his relation to Capewell was, but John dragged his camera equipment through what looks like some fairly dense woods to take some pictures.
About The Capewell Glass Negative Collection
The Capewell Glass Negative Collection is a series of about 200 5-inch by 7-inch glass negatives shot early in the 20th Century by John Batt Capewell (1878-1951) of Westville, New Jersey. John passed the negatives down to his son Henry who left them in his wife’s possession upon his passing. Henry’s widow didn’t know what to do with them and didn’t particularly want them so she offered them to my Dad who couldn’t turn down anything. Ultimately I wound up with them and thought I would one day have photographic prints struck from them. That didn’t happen, but I came up with the digital workaround of placing the negatives on a lightbox and rephotographing them with a digital camera. The “processing” was then done on a computer with image editing software. They came out better than I thought they would so I thought I would show them off to the world on this site. Many of these pictures have not been seen in a century, and I’m proud to be presenting them today.
At first, I did not know who the people were in the photographs. I have a box of ephemera that accompanied the negatives and snagged a few clues from that as far as the Capewell name. I did some research on the internet and had a few false starts and wrong turns, but the readers of these posts have provided a remarkable amount of research and detail. I’m amazed at what people have turned up sifting through public records and such!
This story continues to evolve. Every Thursday, I will post a Capewell picture or two. If you recognize a person or place in one of the shots or just want to drop a line, feel free to comment!
Last: Commemorating Mexico’s Lone Eagle in the Pine Barrens
