American Photographer Harry Whittier Frees

 I'm busy working on a tutorial, so
here is a post I have been working
on for some time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've taken lots of photos from my 
small collection of books by 
Harry Whittier Frees for this post. 
  Although some folks today 
may find these photos a bit disturbing,
choosing my favorites has given me a
great deal of trouble as I find each 
one captivating and endearing. 

Harry Whittier Frees
 1879-1953
 Harry's photographs and the simple sweet
stories he wrote took children into an imaginary 
world where kittens baked pies, puppies wore
 dresses and bunnies flipped flapjacks. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An introductory note in The Little Folks of
Animal Land, published in 1915, Harry writes,
"The series of animal pictures reproduced on the
following pages have all been photographed from
living animals.  The difficulties encountered in posing
kittens and puppies for pictures of this kind have
been overcome only by the exercise of great
patience and invariable kindness.  My little models
receive no especial training, and after their daily
performance before the camera they enjoy nothing 
better than a frolic about the studio.  I sincerely
hope that others will derive as much pleasure from
the antics of these "Little Folks of Animal Land,"
as I experienced in picturing and telling
about them." 

 Mrs. Barker was busy in the kitchen.

 Mrs. Bufkins finds plenty of eggs.

 Mrs. Bufkins takes Barker's place.

 Barker takes a stitch in time.
(Of course this is my absolute favorite!)

Mrs. Bufkins had a busy day.

 Rosie Bufkins gave Jennie an airing.

Lily Bufkins cuts a wisdom tooth.

Cats, Dogs & Other Rabbits, his only biography

 and collection of his photos, was printed in France.

Harry was quite popular in Europe and had

a large following.

Special costumes made by Harry's mother

allowed the animals to stand.  They were

secured with pins so the animals could be

dressed and undressed quickly.

 

Only about 30 plates out of 100 were

usable.  Some of his earliest photos required

a second and 1/2 of exposure time.

Harry relied on intuition to take his photos

at just the right moment.

His photos graced postcards, calenders, and

were even used in advertisements.

All highly collectible today.

 Harry took photos for only 3 months out of

the year and spent the rest of the time

writing and making props.

 

 Original books were published in the 

early 1900's then colorized and reprinted

in the 1950's.  I vividly remember

those brightly colored photos from my

childhood, but I prefer the original black

and white photos.

 Fluff, Puff, Muff and Algernon. 

 
 Buzz, Fuzz, Suzz and Agamemnon.

 Wags, Tags, Rags and Obadiah.

  In our modern world full of computer digital images,
  I am utterly fascinated by Harry's work.  I can't help
but think he had a special love of animals to have
made this type of photograph his life's work.  I can 
still recall the many times my daughter and 
nieces wrapped Ace, the rag doll cat, in a 
blanket and adorned him with a dolly's bonnet 
for a ride in the stroller.  They were kind and
 gentle with him and he certainly seemed to
 relish the special attention.  No wonder Harry's
  books were so popular with little children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   I wanted to purchase some reproduction books
for my great niece's Easter basket.  Antique
 and vintage books are rare, expensive and fragile.  
I searched long and hard for reprints of his
 original works.  Little black and white 6 by 5 books 

are available at The Shackman Store, as well
 as lots of other interesting things.

 The Shackman Store

Learn more about Harry Frees  

 LIFE magazine March 1, 1937