Ella McBride

born Albia, Iowa, 1862; died Seattle, Washington, 1965

BiographyElla McBride moved to Albany, Oregon at age three. She was a school teacher for 23 years in Portland, OR. (Principal of the Ainsworth School in Portland for 13 years). She met Edward S. Curtis while in a group climbing Mt. Rainier in 1897, moved to Seattle in 1907 to manage Curtis' studio. Stayed with Curtis until 1917 when she opened her own studio, "The McBride Studio". She hired Pictorialist photographers, Wayne C. Albee (1882-1937) and Frank Asakichi Kunishige (1878-1960) and they photographed the cultural scene in Seattle, particularly covering the events at the Cornish School of Arts. Many of their photographs were published in Seattle's arts publication during the teens, 20's and 30's. She photographed several performing artists including Pavlova, Ruth St. Denis, Maggie Tate, Adolph Bolm and etcher Roi Partridge.

In addition to her commercial work, McBride began exhibiting fine art photography by 1921 and continued into the 1930's. She was included in numerous international exhibitions and was a prominent member of the Seattle Camera Club (1924-1929). After Albee left Seattle in the late 1920's, McBride went into partnership with Richard H. Anderson, commercial photographer in 1932, renaming the business "McBride & Anderson" which lasted into the 1960's. McBride retired at age 91. In addition to her photographic work, McBride was an avid mountain climber making over 35 major climbs and naming the Sahale Mountain peak north of the Cascade Range in Chelan County, Washington State.

Active in Seattle 1920s-1930s; member of Seattle Camera Club. In Seattle Art Museum exhibit "Painted with Light" August 1999-February 2000.

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