Pillsbury, Arthur Clarence

Arthur Clarence Pillsbury (October 9, 1870 - March 5, 1946) was an American photographer, inventor, cinematographer, and public speaker. Born in Medford, Massachusetts, Pillsbury was the son of physicians. The family moved to California in 1883 due to the health of Pillsbury's older sister. Pillsbury attended Stanford University, where he studied mechanical engineering and invented the first panorama camera in 1897 as his senior project, against his professor's advice. He paid college expenses by running a bicycle shop. He subsequently quit school and went to Alaska to photograph the Yukon Gold Rush, spending part of 1898 at this task and returning in 1899 and possibly again in 1900. After his time in Alaska, Pillsbury started a photographic business in Seattle before moving to Los Angeles for a short time. By 1903 he was in San Francisco working as a photojournalist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He worked for the Chronicle until March 1906, when he founded the Pillsbury Picture Company. A month later, San Francisco suffered the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Pillsbury still had his press pass and spent the next few days and weeks photographing the destruction and the beginning of the recovery effort. In 1908, Pillsbury photographed the Great White Fleet entering San Francisco Bay. In 1909, Pillsbury's life-long fascination with Yosemite began, and he spent the rest of his life as Yosemite's unofficial and official photographer. He built the first time-lapse camera in 1912 and used it to record the blooming of flowers. He spent the rest of his life photographing Yosemite and the wilds of California. He married Ethel Banfield Deuel in April 1906. Pillsbury adopted his brother's 6 children after their parents died in an automobile accident in 1911, but his wife wanted no part in raising the children.