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The David Davidson Story

by Mike Pellegrino

Follow me down a country road to the past, captured by the camera of one of the great photographers of the early 20th century.

The Flower Shows of the 30’s, Peacocks to Elephants, The Native Americans of Montana, Battle Flags of the Revolution, these are just a few of the talking points we will discuss on our travels created by the David Davidson Studios of Providence R.I.

  • Welcome to The David Davidson Story

    This story is about a very ambitious young man who started a small, family-based business in Providence Rhode Island at the turn of the 1900’s. He grew this business into one of the leaders in the field of hand colored photography. And to a larger degree, helped that art form become a contributing part of the Arts and Crafts movement that influenced our country in many ways.

    I have been fortunate enough to have started collecting David Davidson’s work 40-45 years ago. And as they say in “the business”, I was in the right place at the right time.

    I hope to be able to share my collection and the knowledge I’ve acquired, touch base with old friends and meet new ones. Along the way, I’m sure I will learn a few things myself and possibly help create a few new Davidson collectors.

    So subscribe below and let the Story begin!

    Thank you, Mike Pellegrino

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  • Davidson Meets Nutting……or Does Nutting Meet Davidson??

    Blog Post #2

    There are a variety of discussions as to how and when they met, so let me set the story straight!

    The Golden Age of the hand-colored photography movement peaked in our country between 1900-1930. Collectively, Nutting and Davidson became responsible for the lion’s share of this art form.

    But where did they meet? In a Church.

    It’s the fall of 1900. The Davidson family attends church on Sundays at the Union Congregational Church in Providence, RI. David had been very involved in the church’s youth group activities. It was at one of these socials that the minister of the church approached David with a job opportunity. The minister of the church just happened to be Wallace Nutting.

    Rev. Nutting was looking for someone to assist him at his home photography studio. David had just started his college courses at Brown University and the Nutting home was neighboring Roger Williams Park. In spite of the fact that the trip every day from Brown University to Roger Williams Park was more than an hour each way by trolly car, David gladly accepted the invitation at the wage of $0.25 an hour.

    We believe this is a picture that Davidson took of the interior of the Union Congregational Church in Providence RI. Unfortunately, the signed, untitled photo is glued to a piece of cardboard so I cannot access the back of the photo, which could give me some information or an index number. Our assumption is that this is not a copyrighted photo and most likely one of a kind.

  • The First Picture

    Blog Post #1

    The year is 1903. David Davidson is in his 2nd year of college at Brown University. He is also in his 3rd year of working part time for Wallace Nutting, learning the art of hand colored photography. At about the same time Davidson is entering into civil engineering classes at Brown University, he is also building a photography studio in the attic of his parents home. So the desire to follow in the footsteps of Wallace Nutting is already starting to take hold.

    Unfortunately, successfully creating an acceptable picture, did not come easy for the young Davidson. Twelve attempts were necessary before he could create a good negative. This first photo was a picture of the residence of a wealthy citizen in the community. But this was taken without the owner’s request. The issue resolved and the finished photograph was successfully presented and sold to the homeowner for $3.00. Word soon spread and other owners of fine homes were interested in having pictures taken!

    The first published pictures taken by David Davidson in 1903 were: “Locust Drive” #23, a simple country road scene, and “Old Ironsides” #01, picturing a huge rock with the ocean surf breaking over it. Both were first presented in black and white and later that same year they were sold in color. These were the first photographs finished in watercolors to be placed on the market.

Read more: Welcome to The David Davidson Story