When researching historic photographs, the best clues can often come from the studio or photographers names. By searching for these names you can find the dates that the photographer practiced or the periods they operated under a certain name. This can help narrow the timeframes significantly. This list only features photographers and studios that are referenced on this website. I have included web links to the original source information wherever I can.
Denmark
Most of the information in this section is from a fantastic and very detailed website called http://www.fotohistorie.com
It is all in Danish but Google Translate does a good enough job for most of the text.
It is all in Danish but Google Translate does a good enough job for most of the text.
Fritz Ridiger
Hansen and Faber
Atelier
T Hammerom
coming soon
Australia
Louis Buderus
Buderus operated in Rockhampton, Queensland Australia. His studio was later taken over by Jens Hansen Lundager, pictured bottom right. The link between these two is interesting in the context of dating these photographs. The below photos have the stamp of Louis Buderus, making them mid to late 1870s. Then Jens Hansen Lundager took over the studio and we see the Frisco photo company stamp, which makes those photos later after 1880, perhaps as late as 1884/5, before Lundager moved into other pursuits.
Buderus operated in Rockhampton, Queensland Australia. His studio was later taken over by Jens Hansen Lundager, pictured bottom right. The link between these two is interesting in the context of dating these photographs. The below photos have the stamp of Louis Buderus, making them mid to late 1870s. Then Jens Hansen Lundager took over the studio and we see the Frisco photo company stamp, which makes those photos later after 1880, perhaps as late as 1884/5, before Lundager moved into other pursuits.
Jens Hansen Lundager and Frisco Photo Company
Jens Hansen Lundager has now taken over the Louis Buderus studio and we see the Frisco Photo Company appear. First as a simple stamp then later as a printed card. There is a lovely page about him on the 'Danes in Australia' website with portraits. However the Wikipedia entry is the most interesting as it also provides some context to the arrival of the Charles Dickens ship in Keppel Bay at the time. Interesting reading.
It also states that he was born Jens Larsen Hansen, which is very interesting. Is he related to the other Hansens?
It is difficult to know whether the appearance of the Jens Lundager family photographs in my families collection means anything more than they were just friendly fellow Danes. There are so many 'Hansens' who travelled on the same ship and came from all over Denmark. Plus the whole point of these small portable portraits was to give them to friends and family. Images of notable people were often reprinted many times and sold as keepsakes to the general population.
It also states that he was born Jens Larsen Hansen, which is very interesting. Is he related to the other Hansens?
It is difficult to know whether the appearance of the Jens Lundager family photographs in my families collection means anything more than they were just friendly fellow Danes. There are so many 'Hansens' who travelled on the same ship and came from all over Denmark. Plus the whole point of these small portable portraits was to give them to friends and family. Images of notable people were often reprinted many times and sold as keepsakes to the general population.
There is also a wonderful collection of photographs by Jens, and of his family, on the Queensland State Library site in the OneSearch catalogue. Search for accession 82-12-12.
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Alphonse Chargois
Alphonse Chargois was a photographer working in the top end of Queensland around 1880. There are photographs taken by him held in various National and State collections. Some of these are viewable on Trove and the National Library of Australia website. There are also images online on the Bonzle website.
He took studio portraits as well as outdoor shots of various locations and activities. Some portraits of pioneer families outside their homes. He also took photos of Indigenous Australians. These images show a heartbreaking glimpse into the impact of western settlers on traditional life. Many Australians and immigrants from that time were not sympathetic to the situation for Indigenous Australians and took part or condoned the atrocities on them. My hope is that my ancestors were a part of the movement that did sympathise and tried to make things better. But I will never know.
He took studio portraits as well as outdoor shots of various locations and activities. Some portraits of pioneer families outside their homes. He also took photos of Indigenous Australians. These images show a heartbreaking glimpse into the impact of western settlers on traditional life. Many Australians and immigrants from that time were not sympathetic to the situation for Indigenous Australians and took part or condoned the atrocities on them. My hope is that my ancestors were a part of the movement that did sympathise and tried to make things better. But I will never know.
George Rosenthall
For a long time I thought these two portraits were taken in Denmark. The magenta stamp on the rear is very faded on both. Recently I rescanned the stamp and applied some modifications in photoshop to bring out the image and below is the result.
The stamp clearly says "George Rosenthall Artist Photographer". I have searched both Danish and American resources to find photographic studios for George Rosenthall (with two ll's) and have not yet found any. But I did find one in Sydney, fancy that! And it would appear that he was active in 1879 and 1880.
Newspaper article from Trove. Interesting choice of words to use in your advertisement! I love that there is a Phrenology ad underneath by the way.
As listed on the left in the great publication The Mechanical Eye, the studio was listed at George street first, which is the city centre of Sydney, and then the next year at Newtown - which must actually have been quite new a new town at that time. |
So the question is, who are this man and woman? If they are Hansens then why were they in Sydney not Rockhampton? If this is Hans Peter Hansen then is this is mother, aunt or some other relative? Perhaps he travelled down to Sydney to pick her up because she arrived on a different ship? Every discovery leads to 10 new questions!
New Zealand
The Auckland Council website has an excellent resource called the Photographers Database. It contains many NZ photographers plus details of their advertisements and sometimes a short biography, for more well known ones.
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/photographers/basic_search.htm |