Jules Beck

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Jules Beck
Jules Beck in the high mountains, around 1885

Jules Maurice Beck (born June 20, 1825 in Biel , † January 16, 1904 in Strasbourg ) was a Swiss high mountain photographer.

Life

Jules Beck grew up as the eldest son of the high school teacher Maurice Beck and the Alsatian Julie Boeckel in Biel and Bern . After a commercial apprenticeship in Vevey , he joined a mercerie in Strasbourg in 1845 , which was owned by his mother's family. Beck left the company in 1876 and from then on devoted himself full-time to photography. His wife Louise had been separated, presumably because of childlessness.

Beck was one of the first to take photos at altitudes over 4000 meters. He was one of the first to use drying plates , which reduced the weight of his photographic equipment to 15 kilograms.

His first images of the high mountains were taken in July 1866 from just below the summit of the Wetterhorn . However, they failed due to overexposure, and they were blurred. Beck took his first photographs of the Dufourspitze in 1876 . Pictures from the summit ridge of the Mönch and the Jungfrau also caused a stir . His pictures also show mountain huts and hotels that no longer exist today, such as the old Hotel Riffelalp in Zermatt or the two-story Cabane de Panossière from 1883 in the Val de Bagnes .

Despite all the privations, Beck attached great importance to good and rich food. He was happy to assure you that this was the best remedy for altitude sickness .

His pictures were published in the gazebo , in the SAC and other alpine magazines. He exhibited his works at the Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich. He also gave numerous lectures, the manuscripts of which have been preserved.

His life's work of around 1200 recordings is kept in the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern. The Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern dedicated a special exhibition to Beck's work from October 2010 to September 2011.

photos

Works

  • About photography in higher alpine regions. In: Yearbook Swiss Alpine Club, Bern 1867.
  • A campaign in the high mountains. In: Neue Alpenpost, Zurich 1878, Volume VIII.

literature

  • Urs Kneubühl, Markus Schürpf: Jules Beck - The first Swiss high mountain photographer Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2012

Web links

Commons : Jules Beck  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürg Rohrer in the Tages-Anzeiger , January 11, 2013, p. 29
  2. ↑ Swinninfo.ch January 12, 2013
  3. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger , January 11, 2013, p. 29
  4. ^ Alpine Museum
  5. ↑ January 12, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Beck, Jules
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beck, Jules Maurice (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss high mountain photographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Biel
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1904
Place of death Strasbourg