Rudolf Dührkoop

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Rudolf Dührkoop, self-portrait (1912)

Rudolf Dührkoop (born August 1, 1848 in Hamburg ; † April 3, 1918 there ) was a Hamburg portrait photographer . Initially autodidact, Dührkoop worked as a professional photographer from 1883 and eventually became one of the leading exponents of pictorialism .

Life

Rudolph Johannes Dührkoop was born in 1848 as the son of the carpenter Christian Friederich Dührkoop and Johanna Friederica Emile. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870 , Dührkoop voluntarily joined the infantry and was part of the garrison in Paris . Two years later he returned to civilian life and married Maria Louise Caroline Matzen. Their daughter Hanna Maria Theresia was born in 1872. A year later the second daughter, Julie Wilhelmine, was born. Dührkoop initially worked as an employee at the railway and then as a businessman . He became interested in photography during the 1870s .

plant

Photography as a hobby

Richard Skowronnek as a hunter, 1912
Head study, around 1905

Dührkoop's preoccupation with photography in his position as a businessman and amateur was unusual at the time. The complexity of the collodion process and the financial outlay on equipment and chemicals limited access to photography almost exclusively to members of the emerging bourgeoisie and professionals. Dührkoop acquired the necessary knowledge over the years and familiarized himself with the process.

Path to professional photography

In 1882 Dührkoop published his first article in the Photographisches Wochenblatt , the official organ of the Photographisches Verein zu Berlin . At the end of the year, Dührkoop applied to the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce for a photography license, which was granted in January 1883. At that time, the license was a prerequisite for working as a professional photographer. In 1883 Dührkoop opened his first studio at Grosse Bäckerstraße 26 in Hamburg Dührkoop entered the industry as an autodidact.

Professional photography

Dührkoop began his career as a photographer with the production of Cartes-de-Visite . Effective and fast production kept effort and costs under control. On the reverse side of the business cards were mostly the photographer's data, so that they served him as a cheap advertising method. This entry was ideal for establishing oneself in the face of growing competition. His business grew continuously and was so successful that in 1887 Dührkoop made his then 14-year-old daughter Julie Wilhelmine , known as Minya, a studio assistant. Minya was to be much more than a simple assistant in the years to come. In 1888 Dührkoop joined the German Photographers Association , Germany's most influential association of professional photographers. The association's own magazine, the Deutsche Photographen-Zeitung , enabled members to publish articles and take part in exhibitions. Dührkoop's membership in this association earned him recognition as well as contacts with other photographers and finally his status as a recognized professional member of his trade.

Turning to art photography

In 1898 Dührkoop exhibited his work for the first time at an exhibition of the German Photographers Association . Some portraits deviated significantly from standardized commercial portrait photography. They showed his daughter in casual poses, apparently without her noticing the camera, even without the usual props and scenery in the studio. The jurors were shocked and responded with bad reviews. Dührkoop carefully worked out an explanation of his new way of working. In this way he distanced himself from conventional professional photography and committed himself to art photography.

From now on Dührkoop regularly presented his work in exhibitions. In 1909 the photo art salon Oskar Bohr in Dresden dedicated its own exhibition to him. Dührkoop changed the name of his company to Lichtbildnerei Rudolf Dührkoop , opened further studios in Hamburg and Berlin and wrote numerous articles about the reform of portrait photography. He also created a number of photo portfolios and advertisements for his studios, in which he published photographs and listed his awards.

Influences

Dührkoop's way of working was significantly influenced by Alfred Lichtwark , the director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg at the time and the most important actor during the aesthetic reform in Germany. As a promoter of art photography, he also appealed to professional photographers. His lectures brought Dührkoop closer to the new aesthetic. Even Ernst Juhl was important for Dührkoops development. Juhl was the organizing force behind the exhibitions in the Kunsthalle. His collection of art photographs included a considerable number of Dührkoop's photographs. Over the years, the two photographers had a friendship.

International work

A grant from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce enabled Dührkoop to visit the World Exhibition in St. Louis in 1904 . He took the opportunity to meet leading photographers and see their studios. He met Benjamin Falk, WM Hollinger and Gertrude Käsebier, among others . He then traveled on through the USA. His pictures were shown at many exhibitions, American photo magazines published his portraits and devoted appreciative articles to him.

In 1905 Dührkoop became a member of the influential Royal Photographic Society in Great Britain, and in 1906 an honorary member of the American Photographers Association. In 1908 he was accepted into the British brotherhood Linked Ring .

End of career and death

Rudolf Dührkoop grave, Ohlsdorf cemetery

Although he worked in his Berlin studio until shortly before his death and also took part in exhibitions, interest in his work waned. After his death the business was continued by his daughter Julie Wilhelmine, called Minya Diez-Dührkoop , until her death. Preserved holdings of the Dührkoop family's paintings are mainly in the Museum of Art and Industry Hamburg.

Rudolf Dührkoop was buried in the Hamburg cemetery Ohlsdorf in grid square H 14 (northeast of chapel 4).

Awards

  • Honorary member of the Photographers Association of America in August 1906.
  • " Cross of Merit for Art and Science on the Green Belt" of Duke Georg von Sachsen-Meiningen .
  • “ Golden Medal for Art and Science ” for outstanding pictures by Hereditary Prince Reuss Jüngere Linie on the occasion of the silver wedding of the hereditary prince couple in 1909.
  • "Great Cross of Merit of the House Order of the Wendish Crown " from the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1909.
  • Small gold medal of the International Photographic Exhibition organized by the Kiev Department of the Imperial Russian Technical Society.
  • Honorary member of the "London Salon of Photography".
  • "State diploma" at the International Photography Exhibition in Budapest in 1910.
  • “Plaque L. [ouis] Tuaillons ” on the occasion of the centenary of the University of Berlin in 1911 for the work dedicated to the same: “For the centenary of the King Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin in 1910, a collection of portraits of professors from the Berlin Alma mater”.
  • "Great Golden Medal of the City of Rome" awarded at the international exhibition for artistic photography in Rome in 1911 and other gold medals at the international photographic exhibitions in Riga (Russia) and Allahabad (India).

Publications (selection)

items

  • On the use of yellow light in the development of silver-bromide gelatine plates. In: Photographisches Wochenblatt , 1882, p. 251.
  • The photographed image and its reform at the turn of the century. In: The photographer's studio , 1901, pp. 160–165.
  • My work. In: Photographische Kunst, 1, 1902, pp. 71–76.
  • The artistic photography in North America. In: Photographische Kunst , 1905, pp. 1–7, 41–52.
  • with Ido von Reden: Photography. In: Official report on the world exhibition in Saint Louis 1904. Repaid by the Reich Commissioner, 1906, Reichsdruckerei Berlin.
  • Amateur photography and its influence on the camera image. In: L. Sonne, Erich Schröder, Gustav Schmidt (Eds.): Dilettantism and amateur photography. Berlin 1907.
  • Lecture by Rudolph Dührkoop to the Photographer's Association of America, at St. Paul, Minnesota, July 27th, 1911. In: Bulletin of Photography, 1911, pp. 153-159; reprinted in British Journal of Photography , 1911, pp. 720-721, 740-741.
  • My way of working when recording in my own home. In: Photographische Kunst , 1914, pp. 2–5, 17–21, 29–36.

Studio advertising letters

  • Modern realistic photography by Rudolph Dührkoop. Privatdruck, Hamburg 1903. (Eight pages of text, mainly quotations from other sources, and 16 halftone plates).
  • Dührkoop portraits. Privatdruck, Berlin and Berlin-Charlottenburg 1909. (38 pages, including 18 halftone plates; the edition also contains a list of Dührkoop's most important awards, his honorary memberships and prizes as well as a list of people who Dührkoop has taken and whose portraits for six marks each could be commissioned by his studio.)

Photo engraving portfolios

  • Hamburg men and women at the beginning of the 20th century. Camera images taken, etched in copper and printed by Rudolf Dührkoop. Hamburg 1905. (110 photo-engraving plates) ( digitized version of the Hamburg State and University Library )
  • The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, Berlin. Pictures taken with cameras, etched in copper and printed by Rudolf Dührkoop, Berlin 1906. (48 photo-engraving plates).
  • The Royal Technical University of Berlin. Camera images taken, etched in copper and printed by Rudolf Dührkoop. Berlin 1907 (62 photo-engraving plates) ( digitized from the UB of the TU Berlin ).
  • For the centenary of the royal Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Berlin in 1910. Camera images of the current administrative and teaching staff, recorded, transferred to copper, printed and dedicated to the university by Rudolf Dührkoop. Berlin 1910. (110 photo engraving plates).

literature

  • Fritz Loescher: Old and New Portrait Photography. In: Photographische Mitteilungen, Volume 41, 1904, pp. 297-300, followed by 4 illustrations.
  • Cramer: Lecture by Mr. R. Dührkoop-Hamburg: "Photography in the United States and at the St. Louis World Exhibition" illustrated by the large number of photographs from the first American studios . held on May 8, 1905 in front of the "Association for the Care of Photography and Related Arts in Frankfurt / M." In: Photographische Correspondenz . tape 42 , September 1905, p. 279-283 .
  • Fritz Loescher: The camera portrait of our time and Rudolf Dührkoop. In: Art and Culture in Munich. Studies and Essays. Strasbourg 1908.
  • Karl Wilhelm Wolf-Czapek : R. Dührkoop and the redesign of portrait photography. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his workshop. With a foreword by Professor Emmerich. With 16 panels. Otto von Holten, Berlin 1908.
  • Editor: Dührkoop Jubilee . In: Österreichische Photographen-Zeitung . No. October 10 , 1908, p. 161-162 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fanno.onb.ac.at%2Fcgi-content%2Fanno-plus%3Faid%3Dopg%26date%3D1908%26page%3D335%26size%3D45%26qid% 3D9MD2Y83MPYMJESF3YTP3DX5BMZ0VWN ~ GB% 3D ~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  • Fritz Hansen: Deaths. Rudolf Dührkoop . Obituary. In: Photographic correspondence . No. 55 , 1918, pp. 152-154 .
  • Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  • Fritz Kempe : Rudolf Dührkoop. In: In front of the camera. On the history of photography in Hamburg. Hans Christians Verlag, Hamburg 1976, pp. 82-89.
  • Ursula Peters: Style history of photography in Germany 1839-1900. DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1979, pp. 334–352.
  • Michèle and Michel Auer: Encyclopédie Internationale des Photographes. Hermance, Geneva 1985.
  • Michel Frizot: New History of Photography. Cologne 1998, pp. 298f., 308 (ill.) And 498.
  • Klaas Dierks: Rudolph Dührkoop. In: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (ed.): Portraits in series. Photographs of a century. Exhibition catalog Kerber, Bielefeld 2010, pp. 100–101.

Web links

Wikisource: Photographic Correspondence  - Sources and Full Texts
Commons : Rudolf Dührkoop  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see: Hamburg State Archives: Citizens Protocol 1845. Fo. 930 of the nationality supervision, Volume 80, No. 1240. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  2. ↑ see: Death of Mr. Rudolph Dührkoop. In: British Journal of Photography, 65, June 1910, p. 286. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  3. ↑ see: Dr. F. Schmidt to Fritz Kempe: Unpublished letter, January 14, 1964. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  4. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 10.
  5. ↑ see: Rudolf Dührkoop: About the use of yellow light in the development of silver-bromide gelatine plates. In: Photographisches Wochenblatt, 8, 1882, pp. 251-252. (The Photographisches Wochenblatt was the official organ of the Photographisches Verein zu Berlin from 1872 (?) To 1888. )
  6. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 11f.
  7. ↑ see: Schmidt to Kempe: Unpublished letter, January 14, 1964. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  8. ↑ The address “Gr. Bäckerstraße 26 ”was the address of Emilie Bieber's photographic studio from 1855 to 1872 . The photographer Herman Matsen could then be found at this address until 1879 (?) (Source: Hamburg address books). It has not yet been possible to find out whether there were family ties between the photographer Matsen and the wife of Dührkoop.
  9. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, pp. 13-14.
  10. ↑ see: Georg Heinrich Emmerich: Lexicon for Photography. P. 131.
  11. ↑ see: New members. German Photographers Association. In: Deutsche Photographen-Zeitung , 12, 1888, p. 199. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972.
  12. ↑ see: Bruno Meyer: From the Magdeburg exhibition. In: Deutsche Photographen-Zeitung, 23, 1899, pp. 456–458.
  13. ↑ see: Bruno Meyer: From the Magdeburg exhibition. In: Deutsche Photographen-Zeitung, 23, 1899, p. 458.
  14. ^ Rudolf Dührkoop: Workshop for the artistic camera portrait. 1911.
  15. ↑ For a complete list of exhibitions see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 128.
  16. ↑ see: Schmidt to Kempe: Unpublished Letter, 1964. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 42.
  17. ↑ Berliner Brief , in: Wiener Freie Photographische Zeitung , 9th year, 1906, p. 53
  18. ↑ see: Alfred Lichtwark: The importance of amateur photography. P. 69.
  19. ↑ see: Michel Frizot: New History of Photography. Cologne 1998, p. 498.
  20. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 38.
  21. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 65.
  22. ↑ see: Fritz Kempe: Before the Camera. On the history of photography in Hamburg. 1976, p. 88.
  23. ↑ see: K.-W. Wolf-Czapek: R.Dührkoop and the redesign of portrait photography. P. 61.
  24. ↑ see: Rudolf Dührkoop: New camera portraits by Rudolf Dührkoop. Successes and advances in 1906. Advertising brochure, Berlin 1906.
  25. ↑ see: Margaret Harker: The Linked Ring. The Secession Movement in Photography in Britain 1892–1910. London 1979, p. 182. In: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, p. 85.
  26. ↑ see: Odette M. Appel-Heyne: Rudolf Dührkoop: Commercial Pictorialist. Boston 1972, pp. 100f.
  27. ↑ Michèle Auer, Michel Auer: Encyclopédie Internationale des Photographes. Hermance, Geneva 1985.
  28. ↑ Small messages . Awards. In: Photographic correspondence . No. 43 , December 1906, p. 557 .
  29. ↑ Small messages . Awards. In: Photographic correspondence . No. 45 , December 1908, p. 590 .
  30. ↑ Editor: Small communications . In: Österreichische Photographen-Zeitung . No. December 12 , 1909, p. 198 ( digitized versionhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fanno.onb.ac.at%2Fcgi-content%2Fanno-plus%3Faid%3Dopg%26date%3D1909%26page%3D410%26size%3D45%26qid% 3D9MD2Y83MPYMJESF3YTP3DX5BMZ0VWN ~ GB% 3D ~ IA% 3D ~ MDZ% 3D% 0A ~ SZ% 3D ~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D ).
  31. ↑ Small messages . Awards. In: Photographic correspondence . No. 46 , 1909, pp. 149 .
  32. ↑ Awards . In: Photographic correspondence . No. 46 , 1909, pp. 249 .
  33. ↑ Staff news . In: Photographic correspondence . No. 47 , 1910, pp. 330 .
  34. ↑ Award . In: Photographic correspondence . No. 47 , 1910, pp. 409 .
  35. ↑ Photographische Chronik , No. 19 of March 1, 1911, p. 115
  36. ↑ Small messages . Awards. In: Photographic correspondence . No. 48 , 1911, pp. 559 .
personal data
SURNAME Dührkoop, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German portrait photographer
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1918
Place of death Hamburg