Educator Ann Brewington was born July 22, 1889 in Clarence, Missouri, the eldest of three daughters born to Dr. George F. Brewington and Mrs. Rose Brewington (1866-1955). Her sister, Francis, was an registered nurse and a school nurse in Boulder City, Nevada for many years. Francis died in 1973. Brewington's other sister, Ida married Vail Pittman, later became governor of Nevada. Ida died in 1984. Ann taught business at the University of Chicago from 1923 until her retirement in 1954.

Thomas R. Schiff studied photography at Ohio University where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1970. He began experimenting with panoramic photography in the 1980s and in the mid-1990s he started using a Hulcherama 360-degree panoramic camera to take photographs of building exteriors and interiors.