Julia Ann Rudolph (also known as Julia Ann Swift and Julia Ann Raymond; c. 1820–1890) was a 19th-century American studio photographer active in both

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

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. At a time when there were very few professional women photographers, her career spanned a remarkable forty years.

Biography

Born around 1820 (the exact date and location are unknown), Julia Ann Swift originally trained to be a teacher, earning her certificate in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1839. By 1852, however, she was working in the

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

studio of

Daniel DeWitt Tompkins Davie Daniel DeWitt Tompkins Davie (1816 – February 12, 1877), also known as D. D. T. Davie, was an American 19th-century photographer known as a pioneer of the daguerreotype in America and an innovator of photographic equipment and techniques. He wa ...

, remaining there for three years. She married sometime before 1855 and began working under the name Julia Ann Raymond. By early 1856, she had moved to

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, where she set up her own studio in premises formerly occupied by the photographer George O. Kilbourn, which she advertised as having "all the latest instruments and chemicals." Her studio burned down a few months after she set up shop, but she reopened down the street within a couple of months. Rudolph specialized in studio portraits, but she also took some street scenes. She printed her images as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and

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that were mounted on leather or paper. In 1857, an engraving based on her ambrotype of Edward Matteson was published in ''

Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine ''Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine'' was a magazine published between 1856 and 1861, in San Francisco, which played an important role in popularizing California in general, and to a large extent Yosemite National Park in particular. Pub ...

''. For a time towards the end of 1856, she reverted to using her birth name; the date of her divorce is unknown, but in December of that year she remarried. Her second husband, James Ferdinand Rudolph, was a pharmacist, and she began using the name Julia Ann Rudolph in her business dealings. Rudolph stayed in Nevada City for four years before moving her business to K Street in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, where she pursued her career until at least 1890. A record of increasingly higher tax payments suggests that her business flourished. From 1873 on, Rudolph and her husband split their time between Sacramento and Nevada City, and Rudolph operated photographic studios in both cities for a time. In 1890, Rudolph and her husband moved to

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, where she died of consumption.

Collections

Rudolph's photographs are held in the following public collections: *

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, Yale University *

California State Library The California State Library is the state library of the State of California, founded in 1850 by the California State Legislature. The Library collects, preserves, generates and disseminates a wide array of information. Today, it is the central ...

, Sacramento *Women in Photography International Archive, Arcata, California

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolph, Julia Ann 1890 deaths People of the American Old West Photographers from California Photographers from New York (state) People from Nevada City, California 19th-century American photographers Year of birth uncertain 19th-century American women 19th-century American women photographers