Valentin Wolfenstein

Valentin Wolfenstein
Valentin Wolfenstein, circa 1880
Born	(1845-04-19)19 April 1845 Falun, Sweden
Died	3 February 1909(1909-02-03) (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 who worked both in Stockholm and Los Angeles, California. He was one of the first photographers to use flash-lamps for photography.

He owned the first successful photography studio in Los Angeles where he photographed many famous Californians in the 1870s in 1880s.[1]

After returning to Sweden, Wolfenstein owned Atelier Jaeger, the official court photographer's studio in Stockholm, from 1890 to 1905. He was a pioneer in his field and possibly the first in Sweden to make interior pictures in theaters using flash-lamp photography.[2] He took pictures of theater scenes and actors' dressing rooms.[2] A particular skill he developed was taking "look-alike pictures", a double exposure technique that combined images of the same person in two different poses, 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 Brostrom (1807–1851).[3] He emigrated to the United States during the American Civil War and enlisted^[clarification needed] 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 in Downtown Los Angeles.[6] Here he bought the services of Henri Penelon, a French painter, for color tinting portraits.[7] He is also listed as still 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 later that year. He then married Clara Brown (1868–1892). They had two sons, Robert (1889–1977) and Walter (1890 – d. before 1909).[3] When he failed at some Los Angeles 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 in the 1890s, 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 33 in Stockholm. When Jaeger moved back to Germany, his home country, Wolfenstein bought both of 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 63.[15] He is buried at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Central Los Angeles.[16]

Photography work

• 
  Wolfenstein's "look-alike"
  of his boss John Jaeger
  sitting and standing
• 
  1894 flash photography of scene in Swedish Theatre taken by Wolfenstein
• 
  Wolfenstein took this photo of outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez behind the Los Angeles jail on May 18, 1874.

• 
  "Man holding rifle", 1868 Navajo chief Barboncito
• 
  Navajo chief Manuelito with his wife and son, 1868
• 
  Daughter-in-law of chief Barboncito, "Mica se qui", 1868
• 
  Manuelito, Barboncito, and Navajo boy and man, 1868

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. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
2. Söderberg & Rittsel 1983, p. 63.
3. Ancestry.com "Wolfenstein Family Tree"
4. Ancestry.com Military records
5. Söderberg & Rittsel 1983, p. 163.
6. Palmquist 2000, p. 434.
7. Andrews 1964, p. 83.
8. Ancestry.com U.S. City Directories 1821–1989
9. "Biografier – Moderna Museet". Modernamuseet.se. 2001-11-02. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
10. "Västarvet – Västergötlands museum – Objekt VGM_B145198_644". vgregion.se. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
11. "Nationella fotografregistret". Nfr.nordiskamuseet.se. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
12. "Recentering El Pueblo: 18th Annual Living History Tour". S93883215.onlinehome.us. 2008-08-23. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26. 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. Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
16. "Bringing a Buffalo Soldier back to life". Los Angeles Times. 2008-09-26. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-07-27.

Bibliography

• Andrews, Ralph Warren (1964). Picture Gallery Pioneers, 1850 to 1875. Superior Publishing Company.
• Söderberg, Rolf; Rittsel, Pär (1983). Den svenska fotografins historia 1840–1940 The Swedish history of photography. Bonnier fakta. ISBN 978-91-34-50314-4.
• Palmquist, Peter E. (2000). Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840–1865. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3883-5.

External links

• Valentin Wolfenstein at Find a Grave