Arts & Culture

Long Before Selfies, There Were Fishing Snapshots

“Just about everybody has a fish story,” says Barbara Levine, a Houston-based artist. And most folks who fish have taken at least a couple of snapshots. Which is why there are just so many fishing pictures, says Levine, who maintains an extensive collection of vintage photography she scored from flea markets, thrift stores, and auctions. A new book, People Fishing: A Century of Photographs co-written by Levine and Paige Ramey, includes more than a hundred black-and-white and faded-color finds of people enjoying one of our favorite pastimes.

“The fish photo is the forerunner to the selfie,” Levine says. “Unlike pictures where the photographer knows what they want, with fishing, it’s the person who wants their picture taken. They’re saying, Look what I did, here I am standing with my big fish.”

Most of the images have little more than a date written on the back. “Since we don’t know anything about these people, we bring our own stories and associations to the pictures,” Levine says. Although many of the photographers and subjects are anonymous, the fishing photos feel familiar and universal. “Go dig through your own shoe boxes of stuff,” Levine says, “And you’ll probably find some fishing photos tucked away.”

Click through for a selection of these charming vintage fishing photos.

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Young women fishing from a pier in Saint Augustine, Florida, 1946. “Fishing, since the invention of photography, is a story people like to tell in pictures,” writes Barbara Levine in the introduction to People Fishing: A Century of Photographs.

Photo: Courtesy State Archives of Florida

Students fishing at the Florida State University Reservation in Tallahassee, 1970.

Photo: Courtesy State Archives of Florida

Photo postcard of a tarpon exaggeration in studio, circa 1910. While digging through tens of thousands of images of everything from birthday parties to family vacations over the last thirty years, Levine has noticed something—since the invention of photography, people of all walks have had their picture taken while fishing or holding a fish.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Baby with a bream on the line, circa 1910.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Snapshots, circa 1910.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Snapshot, 1963. “Fishing is one of those activities that many people have learned from a parent or grandparent,” Levine says, “and everyone knows someone who fishes.”

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Snapshot of a woman holding largemouth bass, circa 1968. “This is a great example of how you bring your own understanding and experience to the photo,” Levine says. “People will have their own ideas about the color, the fashion, and the fact that she’s this stylish older woman with fish.”

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Real photo postcard of men with trout, 1930.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Hand-tinted photograph of dog and woman with crappie, circa 1935.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Snapshot of kids with a haul of striped bass, 1966.

Photo: From the collection of Barbara Levine

Portrait of author Ernest Hemingway posing with sailfish in Key West, Florida, 1940s.

Photo: Courtesy State Archives of Florida

People Fishing: A Century of Photographs © 2018 Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey, published by Princeton Architectural Press, reprinted with permission from the publisher.