Charles Clifford Curtis (1862–1956) was a pioneering American photographer who is best remembered for his documentary photography of the logging industry in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the late 19th century.

[1] Curtis was well known for his use of large plate photography, which allowed him to capture portraits of people and gatherings that were dwarfed by the scale of the giant trees.

He quickly developed a passion for the craft and began traveling throughout the San Joaquin Valley with his bulky and heavy glass plate photography equipment, using a donkey as his mode of transportation.

[2]: 12–19 In 1886, Curtis joined the Kaweah Colony, a group of socialists led by Burnette Haskell in San Francisco.

[2]: 36–40 Upon arriving at the Comstock Mill, located near today's Lake Sequoia and not far from the General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park, the Curtis family set about building their own shelter.

Between the years of 1887 and 1893, Curtis divided his time between photographing the mountains in the summer and the wheat fields of the San Joaquín Valley in the winter.

Curtis photographed the entire process of this significant event, and his images went on to be exhibited at the museum, bringing him fame and financial success through the sale of photos of the tree.

[1]: 20 In 1892, Charles made an agreement with the Kings River Lumber Company to photograph the felling of another giant sequoia, the General Noble Tree for display at the World's Fair in Chicago.

However, upon arriving at the fair with fifty-thousand prints to sell, he was denied a vendor booth and was unable to recoup his significant investment.

After returning from the World's Fair in 1892, Curtis and his family lived on their property in Esperanza as wheat farmers and scaled down his photography business.