The Wheeler/Stallard Museum held a celebration of life for Aspenite Robert Chamberlain Thursday evening.
Chamberlain, an artist and photographer, donated hundreds of photo negatives and prints to the Aspen Historical Society in 2017 before he died in 2024. His photos showcased Aspen beginning in 1958, capturing the city’s early hippy, ski-bum culture to more modern winter sports competitions.
Chamberlain’s first published work was the cover of SKI Magazine Annual in 1962, and he contributed to several local and regional publications in the following years.
“More than 400 of Bob’s best-known images are now part of the Aspen Historical Society collection, but he left hundreds of unmounted prints, most of them hand-printed at his old darkroom at 420 West Francis Street, that his family would like to share with the community,” said Chamberlain’s nephew, Rob Chamberlain, in a press release from the historical society.
Throughout his career, he was interested in the art of developing, despite advances in technology.
His black and white photos showed skiers carrying their skis across Main Street, Lift 1A in action, and a skier at the Cliffhouse on Buttermilk Mountain — the view of Pyramid Peak unchanged in the last seven decades.
Lisa Hancock, vice president and curator of collections at the Aspen Historical Society, says these photos are indicative of Chamberlain’s work: similar to photojournalism with a specific artistic style.
Chamberlain's work was available for purchase at the memorial, and the remainder will be up for sale at the Aspen Thrift Shop’s art auction later this summer.
“People are leaving with their arms loaded, taking them home, saying ‘I’m in this one,’ or ‘So and so is in this one. I’m gonna ship it to them,’” Hancock said. “So it’s a great way to memorialize him.”
