Glen Aultman — Colorado's Oldest Portrait Studio

The Aultman studio in Durango, Colorado, was not just a photography business — it was a living archive of the American Southwest. For over a century, Glen Aultman and his father before him photographed the people, landscapes, and events of the region, creating a visual record that historians and archivists still draw on today.

This interview, conducted in 1998, was one of the last opportunities to sit with Glen and hear his stories firsthand. He talks about learning photography from his father, the evolution of portrait technology over his career, and what it was like to be the visual chronicler of a community across multiple generations.

Glen also shares memories of some of his most memorable subjects — the ranchers, politicians, and everyday families who came through his studio door — and reflects on what it means to spend a lifetime making pictures of the people around you. His passing shortly after this interview makes it an invaluable document of a photographic tradition that spanned more than a hundred years.