Martha Wilson (L) and Willie Fortner

Martha Wilson (L) and Willie Fortner

Dwellings

Portraits, Group

Women

Gideon Thomas Laney (1889-1976), also known as Gid, was the prominent photographer for the Brasstown and Sweetwater areas of Clay County, North Carolina in the first part of the 20th century. Trained as a portrait photographer and motivated by the need for flexible work after the death of his wife Martha Creech Ison in 1929 left him a single parent, Gideon borrowed his sister’s bellows camera and began to photograph the people and events of his community. He sent his film off to be developed by Weaver Studio in Copperhill, Tennessee and later by Crisp’s Studio in Murphy, North Carolina. From the negatives, he made 6 cent postcard prints using his in-home darkroom.

Laney, Gideon Thomas, 1889-1976

Gideon Laney Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg;

photographs

portraits

eng

StillImage

38521

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/38521

2018-08-20

All rights reserved. For permissions, contact Hunter Library Special Collections, Western Carolina U, Cullowhee, NC 28723;

Clay County (N.C.)

5.5" x 3.5"(dimension)

Picturing Appalachia