Johnson, Bryan R.

BRYAN R. JOHNSON was born c. 1834 in New York State, but his death date and location have not been determined. He worked as a daguerreotypist, ambrotypist, and paper photographer in San Francesco (c. 1856-1857), Benicia (1858), and Oakland (1860) before arriving in Petaluma. According to an advertisement in the Petaluma Argus, Johnson entered a partnership with Edward Payson Butler in December 1862. They worked together at the “Ambrotype and Photographic Gallery” which had been opened by Butler in July 1862 within the “Phenix Block” on Petaluma’s Main Street. In April 1863, Johnson took sole possession of the studio and renamed it “Johnson’s Premium Pioneer Photographic Gallery” also known as “B.R. Johnson’s Premium Gallery, Phoenix Block, Petaluma”. In 1864 he relocated his studio twice, finally settling in the Doyle Building over the Morris Cigar Store on Main Street. His cartes de visite produced at this final location bear the imprint, “From B. R. Johnson’s Photographic Establishment, Doyle’s Building, Main Street, Petaluma”. Johnson advertised himself as doing “First Class Work” and his Petaluma studio as outfitted “in the most splendid style” featuring “the late improved frosted Lites, more generally used in the Eastern Cities”. In 1865 he traveled to New York City to study the recent improvements in photography demonstrated at the gallery of Mathew B. Brady and then returned to his Petaluma studio, which according to the Petaluma Weekly Argus, he sold to William Henry Lentz in October 1866.

Active in Petaluma: Johnson was active in Petaluma beginning in December 1862. He sold his studio in October 1866, but according to Peter Palmquist, he continued working in Petaluma until at least 1867.

Bibliography: Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West, Expanded and Revised Edition, 2018, p. 140; Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 325-326; Johnson PDF; https://digital.sonomalibrary.org/about/photographers; Petaluma Argus, Dec. 31, 1862, p. 2; Petaluma Argus, April 29, 1863, p.2; Petaluma Argus, Sept. 30, 1863, p.3; ; Petaluma Weekly Argus, April 21, 1864, p. 2; Petaluma Weekly Argus, Oct. 4, 1866, p.2.

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