Larss and Duclos was a photographic studio partnership between Per Edvard Larss and Joseph E. N. Duclos (1863-1917) in Dawson City,

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

during the Klondike Gold Rush era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dawson-golddust-1899

Duclos was born in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and moved to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

where he learned photography. He moved to Dawson with his wife Emily in 1898 via

St. Michael, Alaska St. Michael ( esu, Taciq, ik, Tasiq; Taziq, russian: Сент-Майкл), historically referred to as Saint Michael, is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska. The population was 401 at the 2010 census, up from 368 in 2000. Geography St. Michael ...

and the

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

. He mined on Lovett Gulch until he joined the studio. Duclos specialized in portraits while Larss photographed gold rush scenes and scenery. Chilkoot-border-1898

Larss and Duclos took over the studio of

Eric A. Hegg Eric A. Hegg (September 17, 1867 – December 13, 1947) was a Swedish-American photographer who portrayed the people in Skagway, Bennett and Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush from 1897 to 1901. Hegg himself participated in prospecting ex ...

, who arrived in

Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal wit ...

in October 1897 after a short stop in Dyea. He immediately opened a studio and was joined a year later by his brother and a friend of the two brothers, Peter Andersson, along with Per Edvard Larss in the following spring, who also was a Swedish-American photographer. In 1899, after a year in Yukon, Hegg returned to

and left his studio in Dawson to Larss and Duclos. Duclos was from Quebec. Klondike-nome-1899

The pair witnessed the Chilkoot Trail and the Klondike gold rush capturing iconic photographs that are used to illustrate the era. The partnership dissolved in 1904 when Larss left the area for Denver and Nevada, selling out to his partner. Duclos continued in the studio business until 1914.

Collections

The pair's work is collected by various museums and archives in Canada, Alaska, and Washington State, many of them making their photographs available online. Miles-canyon-tramway-1898

These include the

Royal Museum of British Columbia Founded in 1886, the Royal British Columbia Museum (sometimes referred to as Royal BC Museum) consists of The Province of British Columbia's natural and human history museum as well as the British Columbia Provincial Archives. The museum is loca ...

. University of Washington Libraries, City of Vancouver Archives, Vancouver Public Library special collections, the Yukon Archives, Alaska State Archives, Dawson City Museum, McCord and others.

References

{{Reflist Art duos

Collections

See also

References