In the public consciousness at least, Hawaii has probably not changed too much in the past 100 years. By this I mean an island chain of magnificent tropical beauty, mystery, and earthly delights with a strong emphasis on the natural world being the preferred vision for this place for many of us; with the realities of crime, squalor and all the other maladies undoubtedly present on some scale cast aside for the sake of bliss. You see, in this chaotic world, people need and want to believe utopia by the name Hawaii must exist.
Detail: A.R. Gurrey Jr., American: “In measured tones subdued and low…” ca. 1910-20: vintage gelatin silver print from leaf included in volume “Idyls of Hawaii” (10.2 x 11.6 | 25.0 x 19.8 cm) Native Hawaiians are seen steering an outrigger canoe, possibly on Kaneohe Bay off the coast of Oahu. : From: PhotoSeed Archive
Left: first published version of A.R. Gurrey Jr. monogram from 1902 advertisement for his Honolulu store from “The Friend” magazine of that city. Middle: portrait of Gurrey Jr. published in “Men of Hawaii” from 1917. His WWI draft registration from 1918 listed his occupation as art dealer with his physical features being short, of medium build with gray eyes and brown hair. He lived with wife Caroline Haskins Gurrey, an accomplished portrait photographer, at 2512 Upper Manoa in Honolulu. Right: this circular logo for Gurrey’s Ltd. located at 1066 Fort St. in Honolulu featured Duke Paoa Kahanamoku riding a surfboard. Open from late 1909 to 1923, the shop in a 1912 mention in Mid-Pacific magazine stated: “This Art and Photo Shop is the home of the Hawaiian Roycroftes, where you can see the work of the leading artists of the Islands, small views, native types and surfriders and other objects of art. Besides being the leading art shop, they are agents for the Ansco Cameras and Cyko Paper, with a developing and printing department that cannot be excelled.” all images from: Hathi Trust.
Detail: A.R. Gurrey Jr., American: “Old ocean singing a psalm of delight…” (ocean view of Diamond Head in silhouette) ca. 1910-20: vintage gelatin silver print from leaf included in volume “Idyls of Hawaii” (7.8 x 11.5 | 25.0 x 19.8 cm) : From: PhotoSeed Archive
For the first issue of The Mid-Pacific Magazine in Jan., 1911, A.R.Gurrey Jr.’s photo from 1910 of Duke Kahanamoku riding a surfboard in Waikiki was published as part of the front color cover designed by artist Stuart S. Tabor. Acknowledged today as the father of surfing photography, Gurrey Jr.’s working methods in a 1912 article stated: “It necessitated going right out against the incoming surf, right at its height and meant invariably a swamping of the canoe and soaking for all in it. Mr. Gurrey felt amply repaid for his day’s outing if at the end of the day he returned with his camera and one unspoiled negative out of twelve.” from: Hathi Trust
Detail: A.R. Gurrey Jr., American: photo-transfer of calligraphic text from poem “A Psalm for Hawaii” by Anna Cate Dole published in “Idyls of Hawaii” ca. 1910-20. Calligraphy was an important art-form practiced by Gurrey; so much so he often signed this work in “Idyls” using his stylized monogram seen above at lower left corner. from: PhotoSeed Archive
A.R. Gurrey Jr., American: “Fair is she in the morning light…” ca. 1910-20: vintage gelatin silver print used as frontis leaf included in volume “Idyls of Hawaii” (11.5 x 11.2 | 25.0 x 19.8 cm) Illustrating lines from the Anna Cate Dole poem “A Psalm for Hawaii” written ca. 1909, Gurrey’s photograph of a mountainous Hawaiian landscape with her peaks and lake reflection shrouded in clouds confirms this place as idyllic. From: PhotoSeed Archive
Photographer Alfred Richard Gurrey Jr. believed in that place. A Hawaiian transplant from San Francisco at the turn of the 20th Century, his beautiful photographs of the islands included in the self-published book Idyls of Hawaii ca. 1910-1920 now on this website is aptly titled, even if idyll is now spelled with two ls in the 21st. A truly renaissance man of the arts, his vision of beauty for a place we may never visit but hope to someday cannot help but give us all the hope we need in this hectic and often indifferent world- one where the idea of Hawaii can always be within reach. -David Spencer
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