Episode 32: Avery on the Log

In 1853, photographer Platt Babbitt made a chilling daguerreotype of a man named Joseph Avery, who had been stuck on a tree branch in the middle of the rushing rapids near the edge of Niagara Falls for over 10 hours. Babbitt had unknowingly created the first “action” shot in photojournalism.

In this episode, Aimee tells the unbelievable true story of a daring rescue attempt on the Niagara River, a photographer who fought tooth and nail to defend his turf, and the beginning of photojournalism as we know it.