There are only three places Howard K. Watkins won̢۪t take his trusty camera: the bedroom, the bathroom and underwater.

“Very seldom do I go anywhere where my camera is not available to me,� Watkins said. “For the last 15 to 20 years I’ve just kept a camera in my car.�

Watkins, 59, has worked for the last 33 years as a lawyer in Fresno. While working full time in legal work with the County of Fresno, he has turned his hobby as a shutterbug into a fulltime pursuit, capturing more than 150,000 photographs that document life in Fresno over the past 30 years.

The collection contains photographs of his career in law, business and community leaders, celebrities, parades, political rallies and numerous community events.

Watkins is now donating his photographic archive to Fresno State̢۪s Henry Madden Library.

“The sky’s the limit. The students can use it in anyway they can think of. It has 150,000 images,� Tammy Lau, head of the library’s special collections, said. “There has to be some use for everyone in there.�

Watkins̢۪ love of photography began in junior high when his namesake, a friend of the family, gave him a Brownie Box camera. From that point on Watkins was hooked.

Watkins continued to take photographs throughout high school and college.

He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1969, where he earned a degree in political science and also met his wife Chris at a school dance.
Watkins earned his law degree at Hastings College of Law and then moved to Fresno in 1973 to work for Fresno County Legal Services doing welfare litigation.

Although Watkins was pursuing a career in law he hadn’t forgotten his passion for photography and began taking photographs for the bar association’s monthly newsletter, “The Bar Bulletin.� He has been the official photographer for the Fresno County Bar Association for more than 30 years.

Watkins believes that one of the reasons for the collection is Fresno itself.

“If we wouldn’t have come to Fresno then I think it’s unlikely I would have the photograph collection to the extent I do,� Watkins says.

Watkins says he thinks this is due to the layout of the city and the focus of the downtown area in the 1970s as the center of activity.

This made it easier for Watkins to make it to as many events as he did and be there to capture different moments on film. Although events are now held all across town, Watkins tries to make it to as many events as he can.

“There’s hardly a major event in town that I don’t have photos of,â€? Watkins said. “Most of the political or business leaders know me by name. “People say, ‘Howard, you’re everywhere.’â€?

Aside from taking photographs for the Fresno County Bar Association, Watkins snapped all of his photographs on his own time as volunteer work.

“Whenever I wanted to or whenever I felt the calling I would take pictures of an event,� Watkins said.

Watkins said the mayor’s office has referred to him as “Fresno’s photo laureate.�

Others have referred to Watkins as “The Pop Laval of his time,� something Watkins considers a significant honor.

Claude “Pop� Laval was a photographer who preserved the life and times of people from Stockton to Bakersfield. Laval’s archive spanned 60 years and contained 100,000 photographs.

Watkins has snapped 50 percent more photos in half the time.

Watkins says that when he first came to Fresno he shot one to two rolls of film a month, or about 25 to 100 photos. He now takes 1,000 pictures a month.

Watkins is able to take so many photographs because of the convenience of digital photography.

The collection Watkins is donating contains both the digital photographs and 120,000 film negatives.

Watkins chose to donate his collection to the library because he said he is not able to maintain the archive and it is too big of a project to take on by himself.

“Fresno has been good to me. It’s a way to give back to the community. I know it’s in the best possible hands through the Madden Library,� Watkins said.

Watkins said the goal is to make all of the photographs available online, and for viewing in person in the special collection department of the library in batches.

The photographs are going to be made available in batches because the project is contingent on time and money. Watkins thinks the first batch of photographs will be available to view in the next one to three years.

Watkins estimates the project will cost about $200,000. He is working with the Fresno Regional Foundation to collect donations.

The film negatives must be professionally digitized and all of the photographs must be labeled according to the date, the location, the event and the names of the people in the photograph.

Watkins is retiring at the end of March from his career in law to devote his time to labeling the photographs.

He believes he will be working on the project for at least the next five to 10 years.

“At least,� Watkins said. “It may go on until the day I die. This will be a tremendous historical legacy that will long survive my lifetime.�