Norton
studio
marks anniversary,
moves to Solon
By
VALERIE BANNER
PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Picture
a barefoot family clad in pastel or white clothing
comfortably lounging against a stark white background.
Now picture this image exquisitely framed and
hanging in the family’s home.
It’s a look that’s become as classic
as the Clifford Norton Studio, which celebrates its 95th anniversary this year.
The studio has survived the Great Depression, two world
wars, a devastating fire and a change of ownership, said Betty Norton Greve,
the daughter of Clifford Norton. And as the studio grew and expanded, it had
to move several times to locations that better suited its needs.
Tomorrow it will move again, going from Mayfield Heights
to a studio at 26801 Miles Rd. in Solon. It’s twice as large and has more
natural lighting, says Michael Lichterman, who bought the studio in 1995.
The look Clifford Norton pioneered has withstood the
test of time. When he opened his studio in 1906, he made a name for himself by
being among the first to take portraits outside, said his 84-year-old daughter,
who, along with her brother, carried on the tradition.
Now Lichterman is the one snapping family portraits
in that same familiar style.
“What we’re doing is a photojournalist kind
of photography,” Lichterman said. “But Don [Clifford Norton’s
son] and [his wife] Carol were doing it 30 years ago. They just didn’t
have the label. If you look at old Clifford Norton’s photographs, they
could have been taken 40 years ago or today.
Don Norton, 82, who now lives in Chicago, said he felt
at ease with Lichterman taking over. “His enthusiasm for it was wonderful.
The idea that he wanted to work with us for a year before taking over the studio
and knowing how he would work made a smooth transition,” he recalled.
Greve said one of the things she likes best about Lichterman’s
work is that it is so similar to Don’s.
And to her own.
Greve began taking pictures for her father in 1942, when Don
Norton left to serve in what was then called the Air Corps. At the time, a female
photographer was unusual, she said.
“There
was an undercurrent of ‘What’s this girl doing here?’” she
said, drawing out and emphasizing the word “girl” while scrunching
up her nose. “Very shortly this passed. Girls were doing everything pretty
soon.”
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Above:
Katherine Alday reaches down to her nephew
in this wedding photo taken by Michael
Lichterman, current owner of the Clifford
Norton Studio. Left: This bridal photo,
circa 1929, was taken by Clifford Norton.
The studio he founded has been taking
wedding photographs and family portraits
in Cleveland since 1906 |
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Greve
almost didn’t have the chance to work
for her father because a fire nearly destroyed
the studio in 1926. The blaze began when
her father was trying to make proofs by exposing
them to a special light called an arclight.
Sticks of carbon burned brightly from the
center of the huge circular light, and a
spark from one of the sticks started the
fire. Although many people encouraged Clifford
Norton to declare bankruptcy, he was determined
to rebuild the business.
The studio
eventually did well enough that Clifford Norton was able to move it from 96th
St. and Euclid Ave. to a larger location in Shaker Heights in 1950. He died in
1959 and never got to see what Greve calls one of the studio’s most elegant
locations, in La Place, where the studio moved in 1969.
As the studio changed through the years, so did the technology.
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“In
those days, you pulled the film out of the
camera” to advance the film, Greve
said.
She recalls
one wedding in which she forgot to pull out the film. The end of the ceremony
was a flurry of activity, she said.
She quickly snapped the bride and groom as they moved from
the balcony, down the stairs and out the church. Later she realized all three
images were on the same exposure.
Luckily, Greve said, the bride and groom liked the photo because
they thought it captured the motion and speed of the moment.
Despite the advancements in technology and the new studios,
one thing never changed,
Greve said. No matter how many weddings she photographed,
she was nervous before every one.
Still, Greve said she’d love to do it again. “It’s
in my blood, I think,” she said.
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