Photo Album Compiled by a Woman Working in the Army Air Force Photo Lab in Panama During World War II
Panama: 1944. String tied brown leatherette photo album binding, 13.5 x 10.5", containing 315 pasted in black and white photographs, with annotations in white ink on many of the pages. A photo album compiled by a woman employee (last name Busch) of the United States Army Air Force, who worked in the photography lab at the Army Air Base in the Panama Canal Zone during World War II. The lab was headed by Cliff Segerblom, a prominent documentary photographer known for his images of infrastructure projects in southern Nevada. Segerblom had been living in Panama to photograph the Third Locks Project on the canal, but when war broke out, he was hired by the Army Air Force as a civilian employee.
Busch arrived in Panama in December, 1944. Perhaps an aspiring photographer, or influenced by her work with Segerblom, she documented life in Panama, and has included many local scenes and images of locals and natives. Busch appears to have traveled around Panama, and the album includes images from Panama City, Santa Clara, the Rio Hato Air Base, and Darien. These include local bars and nightclubs, individuals selling lottery tickets on the street, a series of "Scenes of Old Panama" depicting historic buildings and ruins, a group of "Scenes of Rural Panama," including a photo of a "Native Abode," several pages documenting a local Carnival parade, and a page containing four photos of natives and their dwellings, headed "Darien Indian Country." Another group of photos, meanwhile, documents a trip Busch took to Medellin, Columbia.
Other images in the album document the lives of Busch and other women workers, their male counterparts, the photo lab, and the Army Air base. These include many photos depicting young men and women having fun together on their off hours, including trips to the beach, and making butter or ice cream together. Other images show Busch's "first home in Panama," Busch sweeping the sidewalk on her "day off", Busch sitting on a bomb, airplanes at the base, and a swarm of P-38 fighters in the sky. Servicemen and women workers are often identified by name, including "Segerblom the Boss," "Millie Vinston", Alberto Henriques (a Black man, perhaps Panamanian), an "M. de La Lasta" (shown wearing "Native Costume"). A series of 13 images towards the end, meanwhile, show the interior of the photo lab. Some tearing and chipping to fore edge of album leaves, occasional slight soiling to images, otherwise in very good condition. Item #13455
Price: $1,250.00