35 mm color slide depicting the remains of the Longs Peak Inn in Estes Park, Colorado, after a fire destroyed the building, taken in April 1949 by Fred Payne Clatworthy (1875-1953). The photo shows two stone fireplaces still standing among the charred ruins.
Fred Payne Clatworthy was a photographer and public lecturer who worked mostly out of Estes Park, Colorado during the first half of the twentieth century. Clatworthy was know for his mastery of the Autochrome screen plate, an early color photography format. In exchange for image use rights to Clatworthy's Autochromes, railways and transportation companies often sent him on all-expenses-paid photo assignments to various locations. In addition, approximately one hundred of Clatworthy's Autochromes appeared in the the pages of National Geographic Magazine between 1923 and 1934. From 1917 to 1934, Clatworthy regularly toured the United States, presenting Autochromes to the public in slide lectures. Som of his most notable venues included the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and Carnegie Museum. Between Clatworthy's lectures and published images, his work was seen by over ten million people in over one hundred sixty countries. Clatworthy also served as the official photographer for the Stanley Hotel, Covenant Heights, and the Rocky Mountain Young Men's Christian Association during the early half of the twentieth century. In addition to his photography work, Clatworthy also had several busines interestes in the Estes Park area including "Ye Littel Shop," a curio store that sold furniture, produce, Kodak cameras, film, and Clatworthy's own images of the area.