ANDERSON PHOTO

Bill Anderson was a man of the earth.  He worked it as a farm boy and explored it as a nature scout.  Yet, when he learned to fly as a marine pilot in WWII, he found a thrilling new field in the air.  When he returned to Concord after the service in the late forties, he and childhood friend, John Wood, photographed the area from the air.  A business was launched. Aerial photos were a new fascination and the photographers’ wives were well received as they knocked on doors with the prints.  There was plenty to photograph from the air as the Post War building boom was in full swing.  The view from above showed parcels cleared for new schools to accommodate the baby boom and showed clusters of bare lots with simple, freshly built houses.  Today, these same neighborhoods are hidden from the air by mature foliage.

From their studio above Anderson Market on Main Street, Anderson & Wood had a birds-eye view of the town center.  Before long they were fielding photographic jobs of every type throughout the entire town:  weddings, civic events, family groups, etc.  In the studio, they developed a unique and recognizable style for portraits of children and dogs.  The classic black and white etched portraits decorated many walls around Concord. John Wood moved away from Concord to become a professor and recognized photographer.  Bill remained in town, moved into a storefront on Walden St along side F. W. Woolworths in 1957 and expanded to a full service retail shop.   The public’s fascination with cameras and darkrooms coincided with a boom in babies, travel and money.  “Anderson Photo,” as it came to be known, was at the right place at the right time.   

Kodak was the photographic king in the sixties and seventies.  The iconic yellow and red was splashed on boxes of film, processing packages, darkroom chemicals and paper.  Rolls and rolls of customers film were dropped off at the shop and then flown out to Kodak’s plant in Rochester NY for processing.  Customers returned after a few days, eager to see their prints. The photo shop was a hub in the center of town.  Camera enthusiasts, learning how to use their equipment or print in the darkroom, mixed with families retrieving photos of babies, school activities, weddings and travel.  People lingered and shared photos.  Students from both public and private school helped out the full time staff and became part of a special culture at the shop.

The atmosphere was welcoming and satisfied the passions for photography, all the more so in the seventies with Bill’s son Bill.  He tracked technological developments and engaged customers with creative displays and events.  The shop was an easy place to stop by, with or without a photo errand.  Most days you might see any number of Concord’s characters perched in the store. The tragic misfiring of a ceremonial canon on Memorial Day of 1976 (?) destroyed the hands of the thirty year old Bill (a member of the Concord Independent Battery) and interrupted his career at the shop.  Despite the daunting physical challenges, Bill has continued throughout his life to photograph beauty where he sees it.  Like his grandmother and his father, Bill Jr. has an extensive archive which includes a visual chronicle of (especially) the seventies in Concord and the Concord Bicentennial celebration.

Concord and the Milldam changed noticeably in the eighties and nineties.  Modest and independent enterprises gave way to boutiques and high end stores.  Woolworths closed and was converted into three separate contemporary shops.  Anderson Photo, to retain their space, was required to move out and renovate.  Retail rents surged but so did the appetite for pictures and the renovation was a success. An increasingly wealthy Concord meant customers were photographing without restraint at home and abroad.  Kodak created regional plants to meet the demand.  Anderson Photo, as a top producer in New England, earned the privilege to offer same day service.

At Anderson Photo, the logical next step was to introduce in-house machinery.  Lynda and Ken Anderson with partner Tim Atkins took over the business in 1993 and successfully added the equipment as well as a range of new commercial services.  A fresh batch of family members and local students supplemented the staff.  The shop percolated with a new energy.

As the new millennium approached, digital technology hovered on a distant horizon.  Amateurs were hesitant to take on a new technology and skeptical professionals doubted the ability of digital photography to match traditional quality.  When the digital age finally arrived, it came in quickly and completely.  In its wake, when cell phones became cameras, traditional photo shops were no longer part of the equation. Anderson Photo came to a logical end leaving strong memories in the hearts of customers from each decade in its half century life.

Ironically, taking photos with cell phones exploded in popularity everywhere on earth. Even people who had never used a camera were suddenly photographers.  Cell phones became a filter between people and experience.  The instinct to take a photo was matched with the desire to share, whether to a single acquaintance or a world of anonymous observers. Perhaps it was a nostalgia for the intimacy and tactile quality of sharing printed photographs that evoked an emotional reaction to the Retrospective Exhibit on William Wheeler Anderson’s Photography at the Concord Public Free Library in 2018.  Viewers responded to the images of their town, a simpler and calmer place.  For many, the photo shop was a link.

Bill Anderson Sr. witnessed the many changes in the shop, the industry and the town with some pride though he always yearned for a humbler Concord.  After an eight year battle with cancer, he succumbed in 1992 at the young age of 68. He did not live long enough to see a cell phone the size of an index card able to produce, alter and enhance an image as had taken him days of negative and darkroom work along with years of experience to create.

LINKS

ANDERSON PHOTO CLOSES (2010): CONCORD JOURNAL EDITORIAL BY KRISTIN EMERSON