History of AppleTree Photographers

The story of AppleTree begins with Maggie Morris in 1932 when she picked up a camera for a newspaper and decided to take pictures. That expanded into her own studio a short time later which became Signature Portraits. She helped fellow photographers like Olan Mills, Sr. (the founder of Olan Mills) and Alfred Stieglitz in promoting their work. After starting a family, her elder daughter, Suzanne, was incorporated into the business by age 5. Suzanne assisted her mother until she went to East Texas State College at the tender age of 15. She was in college before she could legally drive. Originally she wanted to major in chemistry and took a photography course for fun. That changed her viewpoint from - Gotta go help mom - to - Let's see how I can show the true person.

After graduating with a photojournalism degree, Suzanne went to work for Ulrich Meisel in his custom lab in Dallas. She continued to photograph on the side, with Ulrich's blessing and became  head of quality control for the entire company. When Meisel Photochrome decided to expand and open a lab in Atlanta, GA, Suzanne opened it for them. Meisel was eventually bought out after Ulrich retired and Suzanne left for greener pastures. She stayed in Atlanta, primarily photographing weddings while working for several other labs. Finally she and her husband and fellow photographer, Paul Williams, opened Williams Photography in Chamblee, GA. They operated that studio until, for Paul's health, they moved to Norcross, GA, where they operated out of their house.

Ever since Suzanne had left the lab business, she always had a full lab (Black & White and Color) which was, for her, second nature. She continued primarily in the wedding photography genre but also worked her craft in commercial, journalism, celebrity & non-profit work. A year after Paul died, Abe Evans appeared on the scene. They found they had many, many similarites and likes and actually saw the world photographically from the same view point. Abe's emphasis had been architectural, commercial and scenic which complemented Suzanne's people photography.

Together Suzanne and Abe built up one of the largest wedding studios in Atlanta, GA until getting tired of managing photographers instead of being a photographer. They shut down their studio and moved to Indiana & the Midwest where Abe was raised. For 2 years they worked for Olan Mills, Jr. in the school division. During this tme Suzanne returned to wedding photography while Abe ran the Indiana School Division of Olan Mills. Finally they had enough of corporate life and found a commercial building in Atlanta, Indiana to continue their photographic passion. Suzanne had always been sung to by her mother....Sitting under the appletree with nobody else but you... and so she chose AppleTree for the name of the business.

And so the tradition continues with a full service photographic studio with an in-house lab. That is becoming very rare for photographers now but is second nature to Abe. Suzanne died in 2003, so Abe is continuing the journey with some help from daughter Lisa and grandson Brett.