Jay Pedley looks through a stereopticon at one of Ruben McIntosh’s original slides that are part of the Northfield Historical Society show in the Paine House running through October 9. Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News If you are a photography buff, or if maybe you just take an occasional photo, you will find the Northfield Historical Society’s summer exhibit, “Reuben McIntosh, 19th Century Northfield Photographer and His Photographs” both interesting and fascinating.

Mr. McIntosh came to Northfield in 1853 and remained here until his death in 1902.

During that nearly half-century he plied his photographers trade and recorded the everyday life and scenery of that era.

The Historical Society’s exhibit features lots of prints made from his glass plates. Mr. McIntosh produced a great number of stero-opticon type pictures. These are double shots mounted side by side and when seen through a stero-opticon viewer they have a 3-D effect. This device was the forerunner of the “View Master” viewers that were popular in the 1950’s. (and, in principal, the 3D movies of today) In addition to the prints there are also impressive displays of antique cameras and photography equipment and even a “Magic Lantern.” There are also museum quality mounts of personal information about Mr. McIntosh and his career in Northfield.

These four ladies all played a big part in organizing and presenting The Northfield Historical Society's Summer exhibit, "Reuben M. McIntosh, 19th Century Photographer and his photography". From Left: Ingrid Wilson (assistant curator), Joanna Caswell (seated), Kay Schlueter,(Curator of the society’s collection), and Lois Cooley who recently retired as editor of the Crier, have their picture taken in front of a photographers backdrop circa 1860. The backdrop was painted by Northfield artist Phyllis Greenway especially for the exhibit and features slate in the background to emphasize the importance of the slate industry in Northfield's history. Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News In addition to all that, visitors were able to have their picture taken in front of a period photographers backdrop that was painted by Northfield artist Phyllis Greenway.

An interactive feature of the exhibit lets the visitor use a stereo-opticon viewer to look at some of Mr. McIntosh’s work and there are View Masters with discs made by the Historical Society showing his prints.

There was a festive air in the Paine House last Thursday evening as a fine crowd attended the opening reception for the exhibit. People were milling about looking at and talking about all the displays and enjoying the company of friends with a common interest while enjoying the punch and home made cookies made by the refreshment committee, Nancy Berini, Nancy Bothfeld, and Carmen Abascal. (Full disclosure: This reporter felt it was his duty to sample all the types of cookies in the interest of fairness. The culinary report: all were excellent but this reporter has a soft spot for the chocolate chip. )

“This exhibit could be in the Fleming Museum, in Burlington,” said Historical Society president Sally Pedley. “It’s so professional! Kay Schlueter, our curator, Ingrid Wilson, our assistant curator, Lois Cooley, the historian for this project, and Joanna Caswell did an excellent job in pulling everything together and presenting it.”

What started out as a pretty straight -forward show of prints made from some antique glass photography plates that belonged to Jim Wilson, the late editor of “The Northfield News” took on a life of it’s own as the project got underway. “This started out as a tribute to Jim Wilson. We knew he had the plates and he had printed out some of them in the Cleveland and MacIntyre book, “Picture Northfield”. When we sent out a call to raise funds we got a tremendous, community wide response. We raised nearly $5000. That allowed us to really do things right. Kay took it from there. We were able to pull the plates together and get them digitized for display, and we had enough money to add the professional features such as the mounted informational plaques,” Mrs Pedley said.

The exhibit displays many types of photography that Mr. McIntosh produced over his 49 years in Northfield. “He did a little of everything that was done in his era,” said Historical Society curator Kay Schlueter. “He did stereo-opticon work, tintypes, ambro-types, “cabinet” cards, and “Carte-de-Visite”. Those were 1850’s business cards with photos. Those, and most of the types of photography of that era got started in France. Mrs. Schlueter said.

But there was more than photographs to the man. “I became enraptured with his work,” said Lois Cooley, the Historical Society’s historian for this project. Mary Comiskey, Ingrid Wilson , and I traveled down to Bethel and with the help of the Bethel Historical society we were able to find the house where he was born. That got us thinking about the man as well as his work. His loyalty to his wife was remarkable and his obituary in The Northfield News in 1902 said of him: “He was a man of sterling character, a worthy citizen and a kind neighbor who enjoyed the highest respect and esteem of all.”

Also according to his obituary Mr. McIntosh was prominently identified with the business and social interest of the town. The title above the obituary put things in perspective. It reads: Appreciative Sketch of One Who Had Been a Resident of Northfield for Nearly Half a Century.”

A unique feature of the opening reception last Thursday was the chance to compare the technology of the second half of the 19th century with the technology of today. In Mr. McIntosh’s era it took 30 minutes to develop a “wet Plate” in his mobile photo studio on the corner of Central Street and the Common. That was a short period for the times.

But on Thursday evening Isabelle Neilsen of the Paine Arts Council was on hand with a digital camera and a printer.People could get their picture taken and receive a color print of the photo all in less than a minute.

The photos were taken in front of a period backdrop that was painted by local artist (and Northfield News contributor) Phyllis Greenway for the exhibit. The colorful, scenic backdrop featured trees and prominent outcroppings of Northfield slate as a tribute to the importance of the slate industry in Northfield’s history. The photo set-up was a very popular stop for visitors on Thursday night. Even though Isabelle won’t be there every time the exhibit is open, visitors are welcome to use their own cameras to take pictures using the backdrop.

“Reuben M. McIntosh, 19th Century Northfield Photographer and His Photography” will run until October 9, 2010. The exhibit will be open on Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m., and on weekends from 1-3 p.m. It is an exhibit well worth the trip!