Al Monner was the son of Peter and Angie Monner. His father was an awning hanger and lived on 5 E 9th (old numbering). His sister is Ida Monner. His grandfather is J. A. Stephens, who had a farm near Corbett. Al spent much of his time around the Corbett - Latourelle area. He began photography in April 1928. From the start, he photographed essays, and his early subjects include the doorway to the Oregon State Capitol, a Locomotive in Bonneville, a bookmobile that travelled around Corbett, and several air shows. Al made a copy negative of his "first check received for photographic work," from Woodford airlines, dated November 22, 1928, which earned him $4.00.

By August 1928, he was learning artificial light photography by practicing in his home at 5 East 9th. His hobbies included building model airplanes, astronomy and radio. He switched to glass plates from film to improve the sharpness of his photos. He took his first photo that sold to a publication in January 1929, a landscape that was published in "the Sportsman" in November 1930.

Al Monner self portrait, December 27, 1930

Throughout 1930 he documented interesting scenes, including the construction of the St. Johns Bridge. He first climbed Mt Hood on June 22, 1930 and photographed there. He went to the top of the mountain several more times over the next year, accompanied at times by photographer Ray Atkeson, and by noted climber Don Burkhart. Negative number 399, dated March 3, 1931 notes "The last negative made with my first Zeiss Trona." His next camera used roll film and lasted only two weeks, and by March 15 he was back to using a camera with sheet film and glass plates.

Al Monner was employed as a photographer by Brubaker Aerial Surveys from July 1931 until March 1932. A letter of recommendation written by William C. Brubaker called Monner "an expert commercial or aerial photographer". The letter notes Monner lost his job because of Depression "business conditions."

Al had spent much of his early childhood on Eastern Oregon cattle ranches, and so farm and agricultural photography was natural for him. Through the 1930s he sold many pictures to farm magazines like the Farm Journal. For two years he was a staff photographer for the Oregonian's farm magazine, until the publisher hired an efficiency expert who decided the publication did not need three photographers.

In 1939, Monner was hired as a staff photographer for the Oregon Journal.

In 1940, Monner published his first technical photography article in the American Annual of Photography. titled "Winter Mountain Photography Above the Timberline", it was loaded with advice for photographing in freezing snow conditions. Click here to read the entire article Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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Last photo of Al Monner, May 25, 1997