Royal A. Carlock
Born on the banks of the Wabash in southern Indiana, little is known of Royal Carlock’s early life. We do know he was an honorably discharged World War I veteran who served in Europe. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1918, he decided to remain in Washington D.C. Fascinated by the architecture and national treasures found in our nation’s capital, Carlock focused his photographic and hand-coloring skills on reproducing and selling photographs of what he called “…the art & splendor of The City Beautiful”. Carlock was the only know photographer in his company. His black & white photographs were hand-colored in oils and sold to the multitude of tourists visiting our nation’s capital during the post World War I era. The most common subjects collectors will find are the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.
Carlock pictures are identified in three distinct ways: (1) Matted pictures signed “Carlock” on the lower right corner beneath the picture, with or without a title lower left; (2) Un-matted, close-framed pictures with “Carlock” being embossed on the lower-left corner of the actual picture; (3) No marking on the picture or matting, but simply a “Carlock” picture label on the backing.
p4A.com acknowledges the scholarship of Michael A. Ivankovich for developing this information.