Pioneering Photographer

H.H. Bennett's Studio in downtown
Wisconsin Dells.  6/23/2018 dwm photo

The H. H. Bennett Studio is the 9th of 12 Wisconsin Historic Sites we've visited since returning to the state six years ago.

In many ways, it is one of the least likely and most unexpected.

First, the Bennett studio is in downtown Wisconsin Dells just like it has been since 1875.

Henry Hamilton Bennett became a photographer when a Civil War injury ruined his right hand and hopes of returning to life as a carpenter.  Photography was pretty new at the time with pictures requiring long exposures to capture the image.

He and his wife purchased a tin-type studio in Kilbourn City, (later Wisconsin Dells) in 1868.  They built the present location seven years later.

One of Bennett's
cameras he took on
shoots.  6/23/18 (dwm)

Bennett was a photographer, but first and foremost a businessman.  He wanted great pictures, but he wanted to make sell-able photographs.

His wife ran the portrait studio for a steady income while he set out taking pictures of the incredible beauty of the natural Dells rock formations along the Wisconsin River.

Bennett was inventive - creating much of the camera while devising his own technique for panorama shots and creating a shutter to capture split-second images.

His most famous photo, The Leap, is on the Wisconsin Historic Society's homepage for the studio.  That's his son, Ashley in 1886 making the five foot leap to Stand Rock to add human scale to the shot.

One of Bennett's panorama photos on display at the museum.
6/23/2018

Bennett's work is historic because his pictures and their distribution made the Wisconsin Dells a vacation destination it remains to this day.

As the public became armed with cameras in the early 20th century, Bennett's business adapted, moving away from selling pictures to more unique souvenir items sold from his shop.

Bennett's other specialty was taking stereoscopic pictures.  If you remember ViewMasters from your childhood, you know what I'm talking about.  His camera took two photos of the same subject at the same time from slightly different angles so when viewed with each eye on a slightly different image, the brain creates a three-dimension effect.

The showroom of the H.H. Bennett studio.  6/23/18 dwm photo

Bennett's wife continued the business after his death in 1908 and their children and grandchildren carried on until 1998 when they gave the original studio the Wisconsin Historic Society.

The museum is built around the studio which holds its same location on the main drag.  Amidst the water-parks, thrill rides, and tourist spots - it's an authentic part of history of how the tourism industry came to be and the role photography played in creating the legacy of Wisconsin Dells.