Exceptionally rare circa 1930s R. B. Graflex Series D curtain aperture camera purportedly deriving from the personal collection of Clyde Sunderland, a distinguished aerial photographer best known for his work of both vertical and oblique images of the greater San Francisco Bay area. The high-quality Graflex rotating back curtain aperture camera, 9″ x 8.25″ x 7.25″, features two original Graphic Film (1927) plate-holders, one of which contains a rare original vintage 4.75 x 3.75 Sunderland photograph of Pan Am’s China Clipper soaring below the incomplete San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during her maiden flight on November 22, 1935. Also included is a vintage glossy 8 x 10 photo of a young boy (ostensibly Sunderland’s son) taking a photograph with a similar camera, and a modern glossy 9.5 x 7.5 Sunderland photo of the China Clipper image, featuring his stamp on the reverse. In very good condition, with overall scuffing and wear, and a snapped leather strap to the top; the camera is in unknown working order. The consignor notes that this camera was obtained directly from Sunderland’s estate.
One of the premier aerial photographers in the nation, Clyde Sunderland (1900-1989) mapped much of the Western states and documented the rise in commercial aviation after World War II during his illustrious career as an aviation photographer. After starting in animation moviemaking, Sunderland segued into photography, taking a job as a commercial photographer covering important news stories for the Oakland Tribune for 10 years before WWII. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1931 and was instrumental in setting up the first Reserve photography lab in the country, which eventually earned him the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who commissioned him to write a textbook and train naval photographers. After the war, Sunderland returned to Oakland to turn his passion for photography and enthusiasm for flying into a highly successful career.
Working as an aerial photographer for over 40 years, Clyde Sunderland headed the firm Sunderland Aerial Photographs based at Oakland International Airport until his retirement in 1966. During his career, Sunderland mapped the entire state of California along with a 2,400 square mile area of Nevada, and a 2,000 square mile area of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. He also documented the monumental construction of the bay bridges and included the bridges in the background of many of his oblique photographs featuring flying machines. Sunderland photographed it all, from Amelia Earhart’s inaugural voyage to Honolulu to the extraordinary maiden voyage of the China Clipper when the plane, overloaded with goods, was forced to fly under the Oakland Bay Bridge. His photographs were reproduced on the covers of Life Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post and were featured in many books and periodicals including National Geographic. One of the earliest cameras used by Sunderland is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
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