Some Terry County folks may remember Bill Brown, who graduated from Brownfield High School in 1973. Brown has been photographing Dallas for over forty years and during that time he has documented the transformation of the Dallas skyline. Browns’s pursuit of the skyline has been written about in the Dallas Times Herald (1982) and the Dallas Morning News (2010). In August of 1984, he documented long-horns brought into the Trinity basin for the Republican National Convention. In 2009/10 Brown spent sixteen months documenting the demolition of Reunion Arena also with the skyline as his backdrop. Even with all of the change, especially with technology, there has remained one constant, his devotion to film. Brown continues to use 100% film, not digital pictures, to archive and showcase his work.
Even though Brown lives and works in the DFW area, he still has ties to Brownfield and Terry County. Jackie Harris, a long-time Terry County resident is one of Browns’ closest friends. Brown said, “He was my best man in my wedding, as a matter of fact. It’s the only time in his life he’s ever worn a tux.” Brown has come to Brownfield from time to time to visit with Harris, and he usually comes during the harvest festival. Of course, being a photographer and an artist, Brown would also capture some images from the festivities of the harvest festivals. With 2023 fast approaching, the BHS Class of 1973 will be having a 50-year reunion in 2023, and Brown will have a gift to give to his former classmates and the community of Brownfield.
Some may ask how did Brown become an artist in photography? After graduating from BHS, Brown moved with his family to the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area. In 1976 he began working at a professional photo lab in Dallas as a photo retoucher. Of course, this was well before photoshop existed so all retouching was rendered right on the final photographic image. According to Brown, this “retouching” required a steady hand, a keen eye, and an artistic touch.
“I had discovered my love of art in the fifth grade but never really imagined being able to make a living as an artist. Photo retouching and living in Dallas introduced me to a bigger world of art than I had ever conceived.” said Brown.
While at the photo lab Brown displayed an exceptional ability to render intricate and highly detailed image touch-ups. This ability didn’t go unnoticed by his superiors and one day they approached him about working after hours for one of their clients on a special custom book project. The client Brown was introduced to was a photographer by the name of Bank Langmore. Bank had recently finished a personal three-year project of photographically documenting the American range riding cowboy of the 1970’s. He photographed on ranches of 100,000 acres or more that still did everything from horseback, and no mechanization.
Bank’s grandfather had ridden with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in Cuba and listening to his grandfather tell stories of those times left Bank with a desire to someday document the cowboy life. A hardbound book titled “The Cowboy” was published and today it is considered one of the finest on this lifestyle produced in the twentieth century.
The book Brown assisted Bank with was about 16″ x 16″ in size and contained original photographs mounted on artboard for each page. All the pages were then custom bound and wrapped in a beautiful hand-tooled leather cover. The book Brown helped with traveled to museums around the country and it now resides in the possession of Bank’s children. Of course, this introduction to Bank would be the beginning of Brown’s lifelong career of assisting top professional photographers in the production of their personal and commercial work. Brown stated, “Bank had incredibly high standards and I was one of only about five people who ever was able to work closely with him on special exhibits and projects. He instilled a work ethic in me that has carried me through my entire career and I will always be indebted to him.” According to Brown, sadly Bank passed away in 2020. A wonderful tribute was written by his youngest son John. Here is the link to that post: http://www.johnlangmorephotos.com/news-events/1948/
Besides Brown’s work as a photo retoucher, he also produced original works on paper. These works are rendered in graphite and colored pencil as well as watercolor gouache (opaque watercolor). His pieces are realistically rendered in fine detail and this attention to detail compliments his retouching work. “My retouching specialty these days are high-end portraiture and the restoration of old photographs.” said Brown.
Look for Brown to be here soon during the 75th Annual Terry County Harvest Festival which will be held September 29 – October 1, 2022.
