Euphemia Township, Ontario, child....1871

Euphemia Township, Ontario, student ..1881

Oil Springs, Ontario, PHOTOGRAPHER .... 1899-1901

Alvinston, Ontario, PHOTOGRAPHER ..... 1900-1901

Brigden, Ontario, PHOTOGRAPHER .... 1900-1901

Marine City PHOTOGRAPHER .... 1901-1911

Marine City (Pesha Art Company) PHOTOGRAPHERS on Water st south ....1912

 Louis was born on August 11, 1868, near Shetland in Euphemia Township of Lambton County, Ontario, first of the

four children of James and Elizabeth Pesha. He grew up on the family farm. About 1892 Louis married Lena, who is

profiled above. Their daughter Lorraine was born in March of 1900. Louis opened the portrait gallery at Oil Springs

early in 1899, and within months had branch galleries at Alvinston and Brigden. By 1901 he had sold the portrait

galleries in Ontario and had established the studio at Marine City. He did some portrait work at Marine City, but soon

began to emphasize post card photographs of Great Lakes steam ships, street scenes and other interesting views of

cities and towns. He produced postal views of towns in at least 32 of Michigan’s 83 counties and in southwestern

Ontario, particularly in Essex, Kent and Lambton Counties, a few views of northern Ohio and of Niagara Falls in both

New York and Ontario, and at least one view of Wisconsin and one of Duluth, Minnesota. Marine City was in St. Clair

County, and Louis concentrated his photography there and in Sanilac and Huron Counties to the north in Michigan’s

thumb as well as southwest of Marine City in the populous counties of Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne. “A

GOOD CHRISTMAS GIFT. May we be permitted to suggest that good portraits are most happy reminders to

relatives and friends at Christmas time. The good portrait carries with it a world of good thoughts. It is the always

welcome and highly prized gift. We want to assure you that we are prepared to give you the best work in the latest

approved designs, and that your early order for portraits will insure you the perfection of careful attention to detail.

Respectfully THE PESHA ART CO. Open Every Day Except Saturday Marine City, Mich.” was printed on the

post card back of a photograph of the knitting mills at Port Huron. Louis was in Detroit with his camera for events

such as the national Elks Convention in July of 1910 and the Cadillaqua festival in July of 1912. Outside of his local

area he concentrated upon major towns accessible by rail, and usually stayed within one hundred miles of Marine City,

venturing as far west as Ionia and Kalamazoo and northwest as far as Wexford County. Isolated exceptions were a few

towns in the copper and iron mining regions of the Upper Peninsula and Boyne City in Charlevoix County. He

advertised in 1909: “L. PESHA, MARINE PHOTOGRAPHER. Largest Collection of Marine views in America. All

vessels photographed while at full speed. All Lake Vessels in transit through Lake St. Clair pass within 200 feet of my

studio. Pesha’s Photo Post Cards 5,000 Subjects. Samples to Dealers - Free....” At this time 500 of his negatives were

of the largest lake steamers, and he was classified as a Marine Photographer, a Commercial Photographer, a Post Card

Photographer and a View Photographer. One of the messages printed on the backs of his post cards was: “A

PHOTOGRAPH MOUNTED 16 BY 20 LIKE THIS PHOTO 1.00 POSTPAID....” Both his enlargements and his post

cards seem to have been printed from 5 by 7 inch negatives. His work included some exaggerations, mostly made by

adding something like an aeroplane, a bird, a boat or a huge ear of corn to an ordinary scene. He produced post card

photographs for Marine City merchants advertising homes, buggies, watering troughs, burial vaults and his own

business. The signs on the side of his studio read: “Picture Framing - Old Pictures Copied and Enlarged. Roll Films,

Dry Plates, Developing Powders and Printing Paper For Sale Here. Picture Post Cards Made Here.” In the autumn of

1912 a steamboat lost its steering and ran aground, seriously damaging the Pesha studio. A little later Louis started on

an automobile tour of Canada with his wife and their little daughter. On October 1, 1912, while visiting his father near

Shetland, Ontario, Louis pulled the wrong lever of his steam automobile, which backed over a 15 foot embankment

and overturned, crushing his skull. No one else was seriously injured. The funeral was held at Innwood, and burial was

in Shetland Cemetery. The photographic business was continued by his widow.-clements.umich.edu/files/tinder_directory