Conway's photography pioneer: Nathan W. Pease

CONWAY — Nathan W. Pease spent most of his adult life photographing the spectacular natural terrain and bucolic rural scenery of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He was probably more influential in the promotion of tourism in the region than any single artist, simply because his medium was so much cheaper and easier to distribute. The success of his endeavor can be gauged by how many of the rustic North Conway scenes made famous by his stereograph cards are now unrecognizable.

Pease was born in Cornish, Maine, on June 6, 1836. While still in his teens, he began working as a photographer and found it fairly profitable. He began with the daguerreian method, but by the time he came of age, the complicated daguerreotype had largely given way to ambrotype photography. He was nevertheless still known as a “Daguarian” in Cornish, where his brother’s family gave the census marshal his name, age and occupation on June 11, 1860.