THE UPSTAIRS GALLERY SHOWS CLASSIC PHOTOS

The Upstairs Gallery currently displays a selection of photographs by A.M. and Merl Hartung, father and son, who captured classic images of the American west the first half of the twentieth century.  The Hartung family has reproduced a selection of images from its archive. 

A.M. Hartung (1870-1961) began his career in 1892 as an apprentice to a professional photographer in Enterprise, Kansas.  He settled in Ardmore, Indian Territory, where he operated photography studios from 1894 to 1899.  He moved to Texas at the turn of the century where he established studios in Brownwood, Ballinger, and Coleman.  His photography brings to life a vanishing era—the American old West. 

Merl Hartung (1912-2000), A.M.’s son, was born in Brownwood.  An amateur photographer in his youth, he turned professional after service in World War II, photographing rodeo and ranch life. He headed the film department at WBAP-TV in 1948, but his images of rodeo and western life from the fifties are his enduring legacy.