Buffalo natives, Walter Raleigh Britton (1868-1934) and his brother, George Francis Britton (1870-1939), worked as photographers in Denver in the mid-1890s. Their cabinet card mounts provide many interesting details about their business.
The back of the card shows portraits of both men. We learn that Walter worked behind the camera as the operator, while George worked behind the scenes in the darkroom as a finisher.
The photographers made portraits, views, and groups, with “Babies [photographed] quick as a Wink.” The brothers operated a gallery tent in Denver, while most professional photographers in the city had permanent studios. They stressed that they had the most “complete traveling Photographic outfit in the country.” The studio used an enamel finish.
Walter and George Britton were born to William Henry Britton, a tin smith, and Florence Augusta Lovejoy Britton, a homemaker. Walter started practicing photography in Buffalo in 1887. He wed Alice L. Tully on February 8, 1889. In 1892, Walter continued his photography career in Denver, Colorado, where he was joined by his brother George. Citing desertion, Walter filed for divorce from his wife in March 1895. Following that, Walter relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he would spend the bulk of his later years. Britton worked as a photographer in San Francisco, California, during a two-year visit to the United States at the turn of the century. He married Scottish-born Eugenie Christina Casimir Rogues in Nevada on June 26, 1900. Britton died on September 13, 1934, in Edinburgh.
George moved his studio to Boulder, Colorado, after the divorce. On November 24, 1906, he married Alvarado Voris Kidder. In 1911, the couple moved to Palisade, Colorado, where Britton operated a studio until the fall of 1914. They then moved to California and ran a photo studio together in San Francisco until 1925. George Britton passed away on July 12, 1939, in San Francisco.