Background
Albert Sands Southworth was born on March 12, 1811, in West Fairlee, Vermont, United States.
1868
Advertisement for Southworth studio on Hanover Street, Boston
Albert Sands Southworth, ca. 1845-1850
Albert Sands Southworth was born on March 12, 1811, in West Fairlee, Vermont, United States.
Albert Southworth attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He was a student of Samuel F.B. Morse.
Albert Southworth was a pharmacist when he became interested in photography upon his first viewing of a daguerreotype in 1840. He purchased a camera from Samuel F.B. Morse and moved to Boston to open a studio with Joseph Pennell in the same year. The pair took Josiah Hawes in as a partner in 1841, but the firm was not named Southworth &. Hawes until Pennell's death in 1845.
In 1849 Albert Southworth went to California to mine gold but failed in his pursuit. He returned home in ill health and retired.
During his active years, Albert Southworth, with Hawes, patented several photographic devices, such as a viewer for large, full-plate stereo daguerreotypes that they called a Grand Parlor Stereoscope. They also devised a method to reduce exposure time.
Albert Southworth and Hawes were noted for their spontaneous and revealing portraits, which departed from the rather contrived poses of the day. They were daguerreotypists who also made scenes of Boston and its environs. Southworth did some scenes of San Francisco when he was on his gold-mining expedition in the 1850s.