Who gets the credit? Charles Betts Waite or Winfield Scott?

Mexico’s National Photo Archive (Fototeca Nacional) combines the work of two photographers—Winfield Scott (1863-1942) and Charles Betts Waite (1861-1927)—into a single collection titled “C.B. Waite / W. Scott.” The two men did have several things in common: of similar age, both were prominent US-born photographers working in Mexico at the start of the twentieth century; both learned photography in California before working for railway companies; both married twice and had one daughter; and they both spent some time in jail on account of their chosen profession.

These two photographers were also interested in similar subject matter and traveled extensively in Mexico. The images they took, specifically tailored to an English-speaking audience, offered, in the words of photographic historian Rosa Casanova, “a ‘costumbrista’ vision of the landscape, monuments, and people of the country, producing an imagery that was also adopted in Mexico, thanks to their widespread circulation in the form of postcards.”

C.B. Waite. c 1898. View from Villa Tlalocan (the Carden residence), Chapala.

Waite’s photos, like this one of “Lake Chapala, Méx. from Carden Residence” usually have a caption and credit added along their lower edge.

Waite, based in Mexico City, traveled by train, oxcart, stagecoach, mule and on foot to visit some of the country’s remotest regions, as far south as Chiapas. Scott, meanwhile, lived initially in Guanajuato and then settled in Jalisco, where he married into a family of modest means and established a small farm near Ocotlán on the northern shore of Lake Chapala. His travels were centered on the areas served by the Mexican Central Railway.

Winfield Scott. c 1897. Chapala lakeshore, as reproduced and attributed to Waite in Diario de campo (INAH, 2004). See Fig 1.1 of Lake Chapala: a postcard history.

The photo above, definitely by Winfield Scott, is one of those sometimes mistakenly attributed to C.B. Waite. Scott’s typical markings—caption and credit in black boxes—have been almost entirely erased.

So why is their work combined into a single collection in the Fototeca Nacional? Prior to 2005, the photographs had all been thought to be the work of Waite; the collection’s name was revised in 2005 when it was recognized that many of the photos had been taken by Scott. In part, this confusion arose because many images taken by Scott had subsequently been monetized by Waite.

Casanova and Konzevik argue that “ample evidence suggests that the two had some sort of agreement under which both of them used the material without distinguishing between them who had actually taken a specific photo.” Other researchers have assumed that, since photo piracy was relatively rife in Mexico at the time, Waite simply ignored Scott’s authorship and published Scott’s work as his own. (This idea was developed by novelist Fernando Hernández into his fictional work, Diario sin fechas de Charles B. Waite.)

The truth, at least in my opinion, is far more prosaic. There is no solid evidence that Scott and Waite ever collaborated in the manner suggested by Casanova and Konzevik. But contemporaneous newspaper records do show how Waite expanded his catalog of photographs by purchasing the work of smaller rival firms. In 1904, for example, Waite advertised that, “Having bought the photographic view business of Cox and Carmichael, any person desiring views from their negatives can obtain them from C. B. Waite, San Juan de Letrán No. 3.” Four years later, in 1908, Waite advertised in The Mexican Herald that he had acquired Scott’s photographs:

Having purchased the photographic view negatives of Mr. Winfield Scott of Ocotlán, Jalisco, all orders for his Types and Views of Mexico must now be sent direct to me. I now have the largest assortment of views of any one country in the world.”

Immediately after acquiring Scott’s photos, Waite formally registered his rights to them with the Mexican government. When republishing these photos, Waite generally blocked or edited out any previous captions or signature, and added his own statement of ownership, as was entirely within his rights. Hence, the confusion over the original authorship of individual photographs arose from a perfectly legal and normal commercial transaction, not one involving any subterfuge or trickery.

Among the images taken by Scott that Waite acquired and registered are numerous photographs related to Lake Chapala, including views of Prison Island (#2094), Tuxcueca (2177), Tizapan River (2182), Point Fuerte, Chapala (2196), Jamay (2840), Petetan (sic, 3056), Alacran Island (3058) and Cojumatlan (3062). It may not be possible to decide which of the two expert photographers took some of the photos currently in the Waite/Scott collection of the Fototeca Nacional, but I think it is possible to do so for those photos that relate to Lake Chapala.

My 2022 book Lake Chapala: A Postcard History with reproductions of more than 150 vintage postcards tells the incredible story of how Lake Chapala became an international tourist and retirement center.

Sources

• Francisco Hernández. 2018. Diario sin fechas de Charles B. Waite (novel). USA: Almadia.
• Rosa Casanova and Adriana Konzevik. 2007. Mexico: A Photographic History. Mexico: Editorial RM.
• The Mexican Herald: 3 March 1904, 7; 24 Apr 1908.
• Diario Oficial de la Federación: 14 Jan 1908, 150-151; 1 June 1908, 477-8; 14 July 1908, 202-3.
• INAH. 2004. Diario de Campo (Boletín Interno de los investigadores del área de antropología). No 72 (December 2004), p 46.

Comments, corrections and additional material are welcome, whether via comments or email.

Tony Burton

Tony Burton’s books include “Lake Chapala: A Postcard History” (2022), “Foreign Footprints in Ajijic” (2022), “If Walls Could Talk: Chapala’s historic buildings and their former occupants” (2020), (available in translation as “Si Las Paredes Hablaran”), “Mexican Kaleidoscope” (2016), and “Lake Chapala Through the Ages” (2008).

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