PROVO, Utah — Though Brigham Young's image is often distorted through articles, books and sketches that attempt to reveal his life and world, people today are fortunate in that many photographs have been left as a visual record that can help them see him more clearly, said Richard Neitzel Holzapfel.

Brother Holzapfel, a BYU Church history professor, and an associate, R. Q. Shupe, have carried on a project to bring together all known photographic images and paintings of President Young from his lifetime; they hope to publish their efforts in the near future.

Speaking at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute symposium March 20, Brother Holzapfel showed projected copies of many Brigham Young photographs from various stages of the prophet's life.

Some, obtained from private collections, have never been published, such as the one displayed on this page. It is a tintype taken by Charles William Carter in about 1868, one of several views of the prophet taken at that sitting. It is unusual in that it shows a side view, with President Young almost smiling. (In those days, subjects had to be motionless for long periods because of the length of time required for a photo exposure; thus, it was rare for a subject to be shown smiling because of the effort required to maintain that facial expression long enough for the exposure.)

Brother Holzapfel also showed two stereoscopic views of Brigham Young (side-by-side images at slightly varying angles for a three-dimensional effect when viewed through a stereoscope.) One view was the back of President Young's head. The views, the professor said, were taken by Charles R. Savage more as documentary images than typical studio portraits. Savage realized how important it would be for future generations to have an accurate and thorough image of President Young for purposes such as sculpture.

"If a notice in the Deseret Evening News is accurate, one Salt Lake City dealer is reported to have sold some 50,000 photographs of Brigham," Brother Holzapfel noted. "People were interested in the Mormon leader and the LDS Church's progress under his direction. It was not uncommon for visitors to stop at a photographic shop in Salt Lake City and leave with landscape views and photographs of some of the important people of the community, including their prophet."