Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900–1940

Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900–1940 by W. Douglas Hartley, editors; Published: 1994; Softcover; 10x8.5; 95 pp; ISBN: 0871951053; Item # IHS034.

Otto Ping began taking pictures of the people and places of his native Brown County, Indiana, in 1900. Primarily a portraitist, Ping photographed individuals, couples, family groups, and larger gatherings. His portraits are characterized by hastily thrown up backdrops, stark lighting, and rigid poses. They have a documentary quality, and one senses in the faces that peer from these images the determination with which these people met lives of toil and hardship. Otto Ping: Photographer of Brown County, Indiana, 1900–1940 offers a sampling of Ping's work with commentary by W. Douglas Hartley and essays by historians of photography Anne E. Peterson and Stephen J. Fletcher.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Otto Ping 1883–1975
• The Photographs of Otto Ping
• “Otto Ping and Itinerant Photography” by Anne E. Peterson - pages 84-89
• “Significant beyond Intent” by Stephen J. Filetcher - page 90-94
• Bibliography -page 95

The following pictures are found in the book:

• Otto Ping and Clara Ewers, Summer of 1906
• Jackie Harden at Stone Head
• Young Couple
• Old Couple
• Irene Ping and Her Doll ca. 1922
• Small Girl with Rose and Rocking Chair
• Baby in Baptismal Dress
• Portrait of a Girl and Her Dog
• Boy with Large collar
• Two Children and Easter Egg
• Three Children
• Four Generation
• Bryce Ping on a Horse ca 1925
• Bryce Ping with Bouncer on Hood of Car
• Carrie Ping ca 1910
• Irene Ping inside Maxwell Truck
• Couple Fishing
• Irene Ping and Cousins Fishing ca 1928
• Irene and Bryce Ping and Trixie on Stoop of House ca 1924
• Old Man with Beard
• Family Group with Girl and Crutches
• Large Family group
• The Barker Family at Beck's Grove Ridge
• The Old Folks
• Eight Men and One Woman
• The Pings and the Carmichaels
• Couple with Team of Horses
• Man in Wheelchair and White Mare with Black Foal
• Young Woman with Fur
• Young woman
• Ols Shoe with Latching Device
• Books, Camera Case and Book Carrier
• Ewers Family at Sawmill ca 1906 includes Clara Ewer's Father, Sam.
• George and Stella Ewers in the Woods near Sholas ca 1906
• Peddler and Watkin's Product Wagon - includes Otto Ping
• Peddler Can Sullivan and Client
• Earl Ping in Woods ca 1906
• Gathering Nuts (includes William Ping)
• Sawmill Group
• Seven Men at Sawmill
• Sawmill Scene
• Stone Pulverizing Scene with Stem Engine
• Boys from Leesville
• Home Products Association Display ca 1927 (includes Mildred Lackey, Gladys clark and Irene Ping.
• Family Standing in Front of House
• Family group with Cabin Four Children and High Chair
• Family group and Log Cabin
• Old Brown County Jail, Nashville, ca 1905
• Fisherman in the Woods by Lake
• Landscape with Distant Houses
• Cattle in Snow
• Hanging Hog Carcass
• Barnyard with House and Poultry
• Building with Boy on Horse
• Christiansburg School - group picture of students and teachers - include Harley Carmichael (a teacher)
• Mr. Mabe's Birthday Party
• Group Standing in Front of Frame House
• Billy Mabe's Reunion at Stone Head
• Ewer's Family 1927 - indluces a brother and two sisters of Clara Ewers Ping and their children. Irene Ping identified.
• Pike Peak in 1900
• Body of Dead Woman on Bier
• Kenneth Barker ca 1908 - deceased boy who was born in 1903
• Infant in Coffin
• Flowers on a Grave
• Girl Musician Seated with Man and Standing Woman
• Two women on Horseback
• Lawrence and Mary Stucky - in horse-drawn buggy
• Affluent Couple
• Decorated Woman with Young People
• Mrs. Emaline Henderson Ping (89) and Her Brothers - Benjamin Henderson of Columbus 76, Jasper HEnderson of New Bellsville 74, Freeman Henderson ofCliffor 70, and Robert Henderson of near Columbus 78.
• Field Destroyed by Lightening Fire
• Young Women and touring Car - Irene Ping (16th birthday) with Marian Richie, Mary Bishop, Mildred Ritchie, and Betty Polan.
• Eldon Sluss - in front of Ford Coupe
• Irene Ping and Eldon Sluss
• winter Baptism
• Band Concert 1930s

About the Author

W. Douglas Hartley received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Indiana University, an M.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He retired after thirty-five years as a professor of art at Illinois State University.