Golden Gate Photo Co.

As mentioned in my previous post, the Golden Gate Photo Co. was the original name of Evans' photography business.  The only references I've found so far are from the announcements of the opening of his studio.  Presumably, most of his early work (i.e. before 1917) would have been for newspapers and magazines, and therefore probably uncredited for the most part, so identifying any picture as one from Golden Gate is difficult at best.  However, there is one photo that I can credit to the Golden Gate Photo Co.  It was easy to find, since it was already in my photo collection.

When I first came upon the Golden Gate/Evans connection, I remembered this picture.  I purchased this photo of Louise Fazenda about a year before my interest in Evans began. 

There's no signature on the front, so nothing there to suggest that it's an Evans photo.  However, the back of the photo is more informative.

There's a few things of interest here.  Besides the Golden Gate Photo Co. stamp, there is a stamp for Triangle-Keystone.  Not surprising, of course, since that was Ms. Fazenda's studio at the time.  However, is it possible that this photo eventually lead to the famous Bathing Beauty pictures that Evans produces soon after?  Stylistically, this one is much different (and better, in my opinion), but it does make one wonder.

Another thing to notice is the handwriting.  The 'E' next to the Golden Gate stamp is almost certainly in Evans' own hand, as it closely matches what I've seen in documents that he has signed, as well as the signatures seen on his later photographs.  If that is the case, he probably wrote Ms. Fazenda's name as well, which for someone who collects both Louise Fazenda and Nelson Evans photos is kind of neat.