Allen A. Dutton, intruiging photographer from Arizona

Allen Dutton is a master photographer, author, sculptor, social critic, painter, poet, educator and philosopher.

Son of pioneers

Allen Dutton was born in 1922 in Kingman, Arizona. His pioneering grandparents came to the Arizona Territory in the late nineteenth century. His grandfather was a territorial legislator who helped push for the Normal School which later became Northern Arizona University. His grandmother Elida Dutton was one of the first white women to see the Grand Canyon and was photographed there with her husband in 1883. This photograph was later re-created by Dutton with his family for the Then and Now series. His mother grew up in Goldroad, Arizona and died when he was 14 years old. Estranged from his father, Dutton set out on his own.

After attending public schools in Kingman, he enrolled in the Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe where he earned a bachelor’s degree in art. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army where he served in the Third Infantry Division. He was later sent to North Africa for tank warfare. After his discharge in 1946, he went on to study painting and sculpture at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. Dutton earned a master’s in history with a minor in art from Arizona State University.

The teacher

Dutton held a variety of teaching posts in public schools before joining the Art Department at Phoenix College in 1960. He taught photography courses and later served as head of the department. In 1962 he attended a workshop in Denver, Colorado taught by photographer Minor White, who became a good friend and was a significant influence on Dutton’s work.

Dutton as photographer

In 1982, he retired from Phoenix College to devote himself full time to his art. Dutton embarked on a re-photographic survey project that produced three books under the titles Arizona Then and Now and Phoenix Then and Now. Dutton’s interest in documenting change in Arizona led to an ambitious project of photographing every street corner in every town in Arizona. See Series I: Places and Series II: Phoenix. His eclectic interests include nude camera studies, landscapes, portraits, and a series that takes a humorous look at retired life in Sun City, Arizona.

Dutton used an 8x10 or 11x14 view camera to produce all his negatives. These were then contact printed and developed by him.

Nude Montages (1970s)

A photomontage is the artistic joining together of several images or image parts to create one new single composition. These montages use imagery from nude studies, landscapes, and abstracts to create the final photographic image which is centered on the female form. No computers or digital manipulation were used to create these photographs. All montages were created in the darkroom by Mr. Dutton.

Resources

Arizona Historical Foundation
Center for Creative Photography