Wayne Albee

Wayne Albee’s training as a photographer began during his high school years in Tacoma studying portraiture and working in a photographic supply store. In 1902 he opened his own photography studio; he later expanded the studio and renamed it Ye Likeness Shop remaining in business in Tacoma until 1916. The following year Albee moved to Seattle and in 1919 joined the studio of photographer Ella McBride (1862–1965), who credited him with fostering her own interest in art photography.

In addition to his role as chief photographer for McBride’s studio, Albee became one of the Northwest’s leading pictorialist photographers. Pictorialism was an artistic movement that started in the late 19th century dedicated to exploring the painterly qualities of photography. Albee exhibited his work in national and international pictorialist photography salons and won numerous awards. He also was a leading supporter of the short-lived but influential Seattle Camera Club in the mid to late 1920s. Albee was particularly known for his portraits of modern dancers including Anna Pavlova, Ted Shawn, and Ruth St. Denis who he came to know through the McBride Studio’s connection to the Cornish School of Allied Arts (now Cornish College of the Arts), Seattle.