Valentin Wolfenstein

Valentin Wolfenstein

Valentin Wolfenstein, circa 1880
Born 19 April 1845
Falun, Sweden
Died 3 February 1909 (aged 63)
Los Angeles, US
Other names
  • August Valentin Wolfenstein
  • Valentine Wolfenstein
Occupation Photographer
Known for Flash photography
Wolfenstein's Los Angeles photography studio on Main Street, circa 1869
Flash-lamp photography

Valentin Wolfenstein (19 April 1845 – 3 February 1909) was a Swedish-American photographer. He worked both in Los Angeles and Stockholm, and was one of the first photographers to use flash-lamps for photography. He owned the first successful photography studio in Los Angeles and photographed many famous California people of the time;[1] after returning to Sweden, he was then from 1890 to 1905 the owner of the official court photographer's studio Atelier Jaeger in Stockholm.

Wolfenstein was a pioneer photographer and possibly the first in Sweden to make interior pictures for theaters using flash-lamp photography.[2] He took pictures of theater scenes and actors' dressing rooms.[2] A particular skill Wolfenstein had was taking "look-alike pictures", a double exposure technique combining images of the same person in two different positions, for example sitting and standing.[2]

Early life

Wolfenstein was born August Valentin Wolfenstein on 19 April 1845 in Falun. His parents were Viktor Adolf Wolfenstein (1817–1881) and Anna Elisabeth Wolfenstein, née Brostrom (1807–1851).[3] He emigrated to the USA during the American Civil War, and enlisted in New York City on 31 January 1865.[4] After the war he worked as a photographer in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he had a photography studio in 1867.[5] He established a studio in Los Angeles in 1871 on the second floor of New Temple block.[6] Here he bought the services of Henri Penelon, a French painter, for color tinting portraits.[7] He is listed as being at Temple Block in 1875 in the Los Angeles city directory.[8]

Mid life

Wolfenstein married Philopena Brown (1863–1884) on 26 February 1884, while he was in New Bedford. They had a daughter the same year, named Florentina. Philopena died in 1884, and he then remarried to Clara Brown (1868–1892). They had two sons, Robert (1889–1977) and Walter (1890 – d. before 1909).[3] When he failed at some side businesses in the 1880s, he sought new surroundings and went to Guatemala and Mexico where he ran photographic studios.[7]

He returned to Sweden sometime after Clara died and settled in Stockholm, where he became an employee of the royal photographer Johannes Jaeger at his studio, Atelier Jaeger.[9][10] In the 1890s Wolfenstein established a photographic studio at Drottninggatan in Stockholm. When Jaeger moved back to Germany, his home country, Wolfenstein bought both his studios for 60,000 kronor.[9][11] Wolfenstein continued to call the studio of 30 employees by its original name "Atelier Jaeger", because of its already established reputation as the official court photographer.[10][12]

Later life and death

Wolfenstein sold Atelier Jaeger in 1905 and returned to the United States.[13] Albin Roosval and Herman Sylwander, who took over his studios, kept the same original name for the studio.[14] Wolfenstein died in Los Angeles on 3 February 1909 at the age of 62.[15] He is buried at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery.[16]

Photography work


Personal pictures

Wolfenstein in Mexico, 1885
Close-up of Wolfenstein, 1907
Wolfenstein in Cuba, 1907


References

  1. ↑ "2008 Living Historic Tour". West Adams Heritage Association. 2008. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Söderberg & Rittsel 1983, p. 63.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ancestry.com "Wolfenstein Family Tree"
  4. ↑ Ancestry.com Military records
  5. ↑ Söderberg & Rittsel 1983, p. 163.
  6. ↑ Palmquist 2000, p. 434.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Andrews 1964, p. 83.
  8. ↑ Ancestry.com U.S. City Directories 1821–1989
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Biografier – Moderna Museet". Modernamuseet.se. 2001-11-02. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Västarvet – Västergötlands museum – Objekt VGM_B145198_644". vgregion.se. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  11. ↑ "Nationella fotografregistret". Nfr.nordiskamuseet.se. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  12. ↑ "Recentering El Pueblo: 18th Annual Living History Tour". S93883215.onlinehome.us. 2008-08-23. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  13. ↑ Ancestry.com "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820–1957" and "Passenger lists, 1869–1951 of Gothenburg, Sweden"
  14. ↑ Söderberg & Rittsel 1983, p. 34.
  15. ↑ "Sveriges riksdag 1924 : porträttalbum". Runeberg.org. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  16. ↑ "Bringing a Buffalo Soldier back to life". Los Angeles Times. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2014-07-27.

Bibliography

External links