V. Covert Martin
V. Covert Martin is perhaps one of the most preeminent photographers in Stockton, working in the early 1900s and coninciding with John Spooner for a while. Martin especially captured the changing city of Stockton in the 1900s, publishing his book of photographs, Stockton Album Through the Years in 1959. In his synopsis of this book, he mentions that it took his lifetime to capture all the images, with the book being 25 years in the making. It was meant to act as a comprehensive history of Stockton through photography in general (Martin).
Martin worked within multiple studios during his lifetime, although it appeared that he didn't have much luck with his photo studios. Like many others, he found himself constantly plagued by disaster as his two other studios burned down. He later moved to Martin's Photo Studio to continue expanding his photography business until his retirement. The photographs from this studio were given to the University of the Pacific in 1961, two years after Martin completed his photography album (Kasser).
Covert Martin became the official photographer for the Stockton Record over time, recording the entirety of early Stockton history. He began his career working for photographer Charles W. Logan after a short apprenticeship in Nevada City, and set up his photography studio early on (Martin). Photographs like these depict some of the celebrations in Stockton, like the Main Street Centenial Celebration and the County Fair. As the city grew, images like these show how far Stockton has come.
Within Martin's Stockton Album Through the Ages, he does make a note of the fact that he also used some of Spooner's photographs. Both photographers did focus largely on their cities of course, and on simple buildings like churches and auditoriums. Martin certainly represented a more modern look however, which can be seen in the Pavillion and the early College of the Pacific from above.