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We Lead, Others Follow
WOMEN AT THE HELM OF EARLY
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIOS in Albuquerque were tenacious. They were determined to not only make their mark through their success in business, but also pass on their experience and knowledge to other women. The earliest female photography mentor in Albuquerque was the artist and bold business woman, Mrs. Franc Emma Luce Albright.
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Mrs. Albright had an artistic talent that went beyond traditional photography, learning the art of painting and drawing from European artists who lived at her mother’s boarding house in Wyoming Territory. She learned the art of photography from her older sister, Sarah Latimer, who ran a successful photography studio in Kansas. By 1883, she had arrived in Albuquerque and opened Mrs. Albright’s Art Parlor in New Town, building a high-society clientele, and training young women and men in the photography business. Mrs. Albright’s work was recognizable and she traveled extensively, becoming active in national photography organizations. Her eye for portraiture and her incredible artistry were matched with extraordinary business insight. She ran creative advertisements in newspapers extolling the quality of her work. “We Lead, Others Follow” was one of her intrepid slogans.
The next Photo Archives show, We Lead, Others Follow, opens March 6, 2021. It showcases the photography of five female studio owners, including Mrs. Albright, who advanced the role of businesswomen through advocacy and mentorship in the first half of the 20th Century in Albuquerque.
ON VIEW
WE LEAD, OTHERS FOLLOW Opening March 6, 2021
Mrs. Franc Luce Emma Albright (1852, Pennsylvania – 1912, Albuquerque), Albright’s Art Parlor, Mrs. Mattie L. Eakin, ca. 1890, gelatin print cabinet card, Albuquerque Museum, gift of Simmons & Simmons Books, PA1998.011.017
View our Online Exhibitions
Seven Generations of Red Power in New Mexico illuminates a history of resistance and its ongoing legacy in New Mexico. cabq.gov/seven-generations Trinity: Reflections on the Bomb presents artists’s responses to the first detonation of a nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the Trinity explosion. cabq.gov/trinity Take a video tour of the Albuquerque Museum Sculpture Garden with Curator of Art Josie Lopez and view the works of art online. cabq.gov/sculpture-garden
Unidentified Artist, ¡Viva la huelga!, 1965-1970, United Farm Workers, lithograph on paper, Albuquerque Museum, gift of Diane Palley, PC2020.34.151
