Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
David M. Little Glass Plate Negatives, 1890
Detail from:
Yacht Thistle, second day
David M. Little (1860-1923) was mayor of Salem in 1900 and the last Collector of Customs for the ports of Beverly and Salem. He was a boat builder/naval architect, an inventor, a photographer, and a Lieutenant Commander in the US Naval Reserve during World War I, where he was in charge of the shore patrol along the New England coast.
In 1880, Little is credited as the first American to take instantaneous photographs of vessels in motion. Three years later, he published a collection of his images entitled "Instantaneous Marine Studies." This collection contains glass plate negatives of instantaneous yachts that were taken around 1890.
In 1880, Little is credited as the first American to take instantaneous photographs of vessels in motion. Three years later, he published a collection of his images entitled "Instantaneous Marine Studies." This collection contains glass plate negatives of instantaneous yachts that were taken around 1890.