A black and white vintage photograph capturing three elderly individuals—two women and one man with a large white beard—seated around a dining table set with a white tablecloth, food, and dishes. One woman holds a pitcher while the others look toward the camera or down at the table.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons

Noonday meal, New Portland, ca. 1898. Photo: Collections of Stanley Museum on deposit at Maine Historical Society.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons was a pioneering American photographer who dedicated her life to capturing the vanishing spirit of rural New England. While she traveled and lived in various places, her heart—and her camera—always belonged to her home state of Maine.

Born in 1858 in the small mill town of Kingfield, Emmons was surrounded by creativity. Her famous twin brothers, Francis and Freelan Stanley, were brilliant inventors (see Atlas entry for Stanley bros). They built the famous "Stanley Steamer" steam-powered automobile and created a new way to print photos using glass plates: "dry-plate" – an invention they later sold to Eastman Kodak. Watching her brother's experiment, Emmons fell in love with photography; she used her brother's cutting-edge technology to launch her own artistic journey, packing up heavy glass plates and a bulky camera to document the world around her.

Life changed completely for Emmons in 1898 when her husband, James Nathaniel Whitman Emmons, died unexpectedly. While her famous family remained financially supportive, she was left to raise her daughter, Dorothy, alone. Emmons turned her passion for photography into a career, participating in photographic competitions, camera club exhibitions and lectures.

As the Industrial Revolution brought factories and fast-paced city life to America, Emmons began to worry that traditional ways of living would be forgotten. What makes her truly special is her focus on ordinary, rural Maine life. She focused her lens on "domestic vernacular" – a fancy term for everyday home life. Every summer, she returned to Maine to photograph local farmers, blacksmiths, and families working the land.

Emmons was a master of light. She did not just snap quick pictures; she spent hours staging her subjects near windows to let soft, natural sunlight illuminate the scene. Her photographs that survive, taken primarily between 1900 and 1930, look like classical paintings, turning everyday chores—like churning butter or hauling hay—into beautiful moments. Later, she and her daughter Dorothy hand-painted these images directly onto glass slides to share Maine's rustic beauty with audiences across the country.

Emmons died at age 79 in 1937 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Kingfield, overlooking the Carrabassett River.

Maine Historical Society Blog

A close-up vintage sepia-toned photographic portrait of a young woman with her dark hair styled up. She is looking slightly off-camera with a soft, neutral expression. — Chansonetta Stanley Emmons self portrait, Newton, Massachusetts, 1904. Collections of Stanley Museum on deposit at Maine Historical Society.

An early hand-colored glass lantern slide or photograph showing tall stalks of blooming hollyhock flowers. The blossoms feature shades of white, soft pink, and deep magenta against a muted, textured background. — Hollyhocks, ca. 1910. Collections of Stanley Museum on deposit at Maine Historical Society.

A sepia-toned candid historical photograph showing a woman adjusting a large vintage box camera mounted on a tripod outside two rustic wooden cabins. A man stands in the foreground with his back to the camera, watching her, while a few other figures are visible in the background between the structures. — Chansonetta Stanley Emmons, Charleston, South Carolina, 1926. Collections of Stanley Museum on deposit at Maine Historical Society.

Additional photo information:

Cover photo: Noonday meal, New Portland, ca. 1898

Noonday meal, New Portland, ca. 1898. The black and white and hand-colored images of Chansonetta Stanley Emmons' “Noonday Meal” feature Lucy Butts Carville, her sister-in-law Nancy J. Butts, and her brother, Reverend Emery Butts in their home in New Portland, wearing their best dresses, aprons, and waistcoat. The Butts family is the subject of a number of Chansonetta Stanley Emmons photographs exploring themes of rural life in the Kingfield area. Emmons travelled throughout New England becoming a well-known early 20th Century photographer.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons self portrait, Newton, Massachusetts, 1904.

This portrait, which Chansonetta titled, "Portrait of herself, by herself" is one of the first “selfies” made. Emmons used her reflection in a mirror to compose the image.

Hollyhocks, ca. 1910.

Hollyhocks, ca. 1910. Chansonetta Stanley Emmons, accompanied by her daughter Dorothy, traveled across New England, the Carolinas, Canada, and Europe, driven by her passion for photography. She earned recognition for capturing rural life and scenery in the early 20th century through her photographs. It is likely that Chansonetta specifically made this image for inclusion in a public slideshow.

Chansonetta Stanley Emmons, Charleston, South Carolina, 1926.

This snapshot shows Chansonetta in a fashionable outfit and hat framing up a photo of the Felder family, African American tenant farmers on the Hermitage plantation in South Carolina. A family friend recalled that Chansonetta’s work outfits looked like she was heading into Boston to shop, rather than preparing for a demanding day of photography.

« Back to All Atlas Entries