I had the privilege of meeting Edgar Newman in the 1970s. I worked for Damon Koch Studio, who at that time, leased Newman’s Processing lab. We talked about his time as a military photographer during WW 1. he would have been about 25 yrs old at the end of the war. He worked out of a horse drawn wagon that was his dark room. He shot and processed aerial photos in the field. We discussed our “tricks” in the dark room. How to quick dry a negative if dipped in alcohol. He related that if you wanted the neg to dry “real quick” Light it on fire and blow it out before it burned the film.

Edgar operated Newman’s Photo Service for years in Evansville. His lab set up was a pleasure to work. The walls, the ceiling was painted 15% gray. He invented mechanical devices that automated many tasks. His self made print processing line automatically agitated the trays and was surrounded by a temperature controlled water bath. He could process 100 foot rolls of 70mm film in a stainless steel apparatus that he made.

He showed me one of his photographs, a sequence of the moon passing over, About 20 images shot with a large format camera. All were perfectly spaced with no camera shake. That photo took skill in the 1950’s when he shot it.

I remember a man who was in great health the last time I saw him in the mid 1970’s. Edgar died at the age of 91 in 1984.