Ray M. Watson (1911-1990) served in the Navy during World War II. He later worked at Jones Truck Lines and Sinclair Oil, and for 30 years worked as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. But from the 1950s through the 1970s Watson had a side business as a commercial photographer, operating from his home on Maple Street in Springdale, Arkansas. In 1985 Watson generously donated thousands of negatives from his photo studio to the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Watson’s photos capture the time when Northwest
Arkansas began to change and grow. Following World War II new industries
moved to the area and hometown businesses expanded. The coming of Beaver
Lake and dam meant a plentiful source of water and electricity
as well as recreation and tourism. More opportunities meant more
people, more businesses, more houses, more everything! |
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Ray & Clella Watson, Arts Center of the Ozarks gala,
Springdale, March 1976. |
In Watson’s photos we see new subdivisions with compact ranch homes springing up in farmers’ fields, the construction of a country club for the emerging captains of industry, fleets of gleaming new 18-wheelers ready to ship poultry nationwide, and the growth of businesses along sleepy side streets. His industrial shots include green bean processing at Steele Canning Company, chickens hanging from the production line at Springdale Farms, and eggs being packaged for Arbor Acres. Whatever the client wanted, Watson photographed it. He shot company
picnics, vehicle wrecks, posh homes, race horses, new construction,
commercial products, Sunday School classes, livestock, and much more.
Clella, his wife of 58 years, assisted Ray with some of his shoots
and with getting his photo orders together. |
| Watson enjoyed collecting cameras and used many different
kinds over the years. For location work he liked to use a twin lens reflex
Mamiya camera, preferring a 65-millimeter lens. On aerial shoots he had
a 4x5 Speed Graphic. A Mamiya 330 served as a studio camera along with
a Hasselblad 500 C, which he also used for location work. For portraits,
he used an Imagon lens by Snyder on a Speed Graphic. When he needed to
shoot lots of high school senior portraits and such, he used a Keith
camera which could hold 100 feet of film. He was a co-founder of the
(4-state) Professional Photographers of the Ozarks.
Not much is known about the images in the Ray Watson Collection, except what Watson himself wrote on the glassine envelope holding each negative. If you can help with further identifications, please contact the Museum. |
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CREDITS Interview with Mary Frances Maestri Vaughan, February 2006 Ray Watson obituary, The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, December 4, 1990 |
