John Zimmerman Foulk
By Christopher S. Duckworth - For the Times-Gazette
The Baker Art Gallery, where former Hillsboro and Greenfield photographer John Zimmerman Folk eventually landed, offered a variety of art prints, this one of Ophelia, to decorate homes.
As evidenced by this 1882 ad, John Zimmerman Foulk frequently advertised in the Hillsboro News-Herald.
Editor’s note — The following is a story compiled by Christopher S. Duckworth, a longtime Ohio Historical Society employee with family ties to Hillsboro and Greenfield, about late Hillsboro and Greenfield photographer John Zimmerman Foulk.
Myriad photographers have made Highland County the locus of their activities since the then-new phenomenon arrived about 1840. No longer did someone require the services of an artist in order to capture an accurate — or at least acceptable — likeness. Visit the photographer’s gallery, have a “sitting” at which time the photographer took a number of views and processed proof prints for review. Chose your favorite one, and within days the studio provided final prints — an enduring record of your appearance. This was true of babies, children, adults, groups, and, yes, corpses.