Herbert and Dorothy McLaughlin Black and White Photography

Herbert Herb McLaughlin was born to LeRoy Clark and Gertrude (Mizel) McLaughlin in Chicago, Illinois on July 30, 1918. He became interested in photography as a teenager after receiving a Voightlander 9-by-12 centimeter folding camera as a gift. McLaughlin began his college career at Purdue University (1936-1938), where he studied safety engineering before transferring to Indiana University to pursue a double major in business administration and journalism. He left IU in 1940 to pursue a full-time career in photography. McLaughlin married Barbara Cartwright (1920-1996) in Hammond, Indiana on August 27, 1940 and the couple had two children: Lurline (McLaughlin) Lapolla (1942-) and Christopher Lee. After their divorce in about 1949, Barbara McLaughlin returned to Indiana and married Thomas Cleavenger on May 22, 1950.

In 1937, Herb McLaughlin founded Mercury Pictures in Hammond, Indiana and worked for several newspapers, war armament plants, private individuals, and insurance companies. He sold his business and moved his family to Arizona in 1945 after a doctor advised him to move to the Southwest to treat his persistent hayfever and asthma. He settled in Phoenix, where he founded McLaughlin & Co. and continued to work as a commercial photographer. In 1947, McLaughlin purchased McCulloch Brothers Inc. (established in Phoenix in 1912) from Hobart Pribbenow, who had purchased the organization from surviving partner William Patrick McCulloch (1880-1971) in 1946. As part of this purchase, McLaughlin also acquired the McCulloch brothers' extensive negative collection.

On June 3, 1950 Herbert McLaughlin married Dorothy Ann Dot (Jensen) Jolley. Dot Jensen was born to James Joseph and Mary Alice (Downard) Jensen in Manti, Utah on May 10, 1912. She graduated from Snow Junior College with a degree in elementary education in 1931 and married Marion Doval Jolley (1908-1947) on July 24, 1932. Marion and Dot Jolley co-owned Jolley Turkey Company in Mt. Pleasant, Utah and had one son, Joseph Marion (1940-1996). In 1945, the family moved to Phoenix to treat the respiratory ailment that eventually killed Marion Jolley. After her husband's death, Dot Jolley commuted to Utah from Phoenix to manage the turkey farm. After marrying Herb McLaughlin, Dot McLaughlin sold Jolley Turkey Company and became co-owner of McLaughlin & Co.

Dot McLaughlin began her career at McLaughlin & Co. in the front office, but did not like the work and soon began taking care of the firm's growing photographic library instead. She began her career as a photographer when a client asked for a picture of a child crying for use in a 4th of July safety advertisement. Herb McLaughlin was not available, so partner Ziggy Ziegler gave Dot McLaughlin a quick tutorial in the use of the Rolleiflex camera. Dot McLaughlin took the camera to her sister's house, where she put a mild solution of vinegar and water in her niece's eye to make her cry. The picture sold and Dot McLaughlin continued working as a photographer, eventually developing a specialty in photographing children.

By 1950, McLaughlin & Co. had outgrown its space in the Adams Hotel Building and Herb and Dot McLaughlin moved the business to custom studios at 1330 N. 21st Avenue. The need for more space, increased demand, and the desire to grant their employees a share of the profits prompted the couple to move their organization to 2350 W. Holly, to dissolve their partnership, and to incorporate as Arizona Photographic Associates in 1955. They began with 15 staff members, who Herb McLaughlin let go in 1962 so that he and Dot could put more time into the business and do everything themselves. Although their commercial business was extremely successful, they also took time to experiment with different photographic processes and techniques. The couple published two books of their photographs: Phoenix 1870-1970 in Photographs (1972) and Arizona the Beautiful (with Don Dedera, 1974). The McLaughlins began donating their photography to Arizona State University in 1978 and both Herb and Dot McLaughlin were granted Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters in 1981. Herb McLaughlin died in Phoenix on February 19, 1991 and Dot McLaughlin continued to operate the Arizona Photographic Associates until 2002. She died in Phoenix on December 9, 2005 at the age of 93.