Draft:Hubert A. Lowman

Hubert Alden Lowman (April 15, 1913 – December 11, 2006) was a U.S. photographer best known for his natural landscape images, primarily of the American Southwest. Lowman’s photography appeared in travel and nature periodicals such as Arizona Highways and Desert Magazine and he was known for his long association with the Spanish missions in California.

Early life
Hubert A. Lowman was born on April 15, 1913, in Clay County, Missouri. He married Martha Guynn Howard in 1939, and following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the couple moved to Southern California where he found defense work building Liberty ships.

Career
Lowman began working as a freelance photographer at the end of World War II. He sold his photographs to travel periodicals such as Westways and steadily developed a customer base of magazines, publicity and advertising agencies, calendar manufacturers, and publishers and distributors of postcards. Clients included theme parks such as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as national parks including Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon.

In 1946, Lowman began photographing the Spanish missions in California. This interest led to him founding the Lowman Publishing Company, which produces and distributes mission souvenirs.

Lowman remained active with the Lowman Publishing Company until his death in 2006. Ownership of the company was passed to his son Robert P. Lowman and the business remains in operation.

Legacy
The Hubert A. Lowman Photographic Archive was donated to Special Collections and Archives at the Claremont Colleges Library in 2018. It consists of over 21,000 photographs as well as papers, books, magazines, and business archives.

In 2023 his photographs and materials were exhibited in Photographic Memory of the West: The Work of Hubert A. Lowman at The Claremont Colleges Library.