IamHawaii

Bertram Gabriel Bellinghausen’s enduring and exceptionally captivating ethnographic record of an era at a time in Hawaii when Western and Hawaiian cultures were merging can now be discovered with a visit to Hilo’s Lyman Museum and its special Bertram Photography Exhibit, Na Pa`i Ki`i, Photographs of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1883 to 1905.

In 1883, a young Marianist named Bertram Gabriel Bellinghausen left Dayton, Ohio and arrived in Honolulu along with others from the Midwest as reinforcements for the Catholic Mission. Brother Bertram’s interest in the culture and in the science of photography allowed him to indulge his hobby with his camera while recording scenes of Hawaii through its lens.

Nearly 800 glass plates of Brother Bertram’s photos taken from 1883 until 1905 were nearly tossed out with the rubbish in Honolulu in 1964. In the exhibit of his photos of Hawaii’s Big Island now on display through October 2009, visitors to the Lyman Museum will see Hawaiian and Western architecture, images of rural Hawaii, and intriguing faces of island families focusing predominantly on images from his time spent on the Big Island.

Na Pa`i Ki`i, ‘O Brother Bertram, Photographs of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is curated by emeritus English professor, Dr. Albert Lum, and is sponsored by Chaminade University and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.