Rudolf Johannes Dührkoop (1 August 1848,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

– 3 April 1918, Hamburg) was a German

portrait photographer Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective Photographic lighting, lighting, Painted photography backdrops, backdrops, and poses. A portr ...

; one of the leading early representatives of

pictorialism Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

Biography

He was born to Christian Friederich Dührkoop, a carpenter, and his wife, Johanna Friederica Emile. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he returned home and married Maria Louise Caroline Matzen. They had two daughters, Hanna Maria Theresia and Julie Wilhelmine, who also became a photographer, under the name Minya Diez-Dührkoop. He was initially a railroad employee, then worked as a salesman. During this time, he developed an interest in photography, and spent several years learning how to do it on his own. He published his first professional article on the subject in 1882. That same year, he applied for and was issued a photographer's license. Six months later, he opened his own studio. From the very beginning, he worked as a portrait photographer, and was quite successful. His daughter, Julie (Minya), became his assistant in 1887, aged only fourteen, and he moved to a larger studio the following year. In 1890, he opened a second studio, in Altona. He was also accepted as a member of the in Vienna, as well as similar groups in Berlin and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. He held his first exhibition at a professional society in 1898. His portraits showed casual poses, without props or backdrops, where the subjects' attention was not focused on the camera. They received harsh criticism from the jurors. Two years later, he participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris, where his works were given more positive reviews. By then, he had begun taking some photographs outdoors. A grant from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce enabled him to attend the

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

, and visit the studios of several notable photographers throughout the United States. In 1905, he was elected a member of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

in London. The following year, he opened an even larger studio, occupying two floors, and made Minya his legal partner. This left him free to open a portrait workshop in Berlin in 1909. He continued to work there and hold exhibitions until his death, although interest in his style of photography slowly waned. After his death, Minya took over the studio and maintained it until her own death in 1929. He was interred in the

Ohlsdorf Cemetery Ohlsdorf Cemetery (german: Ohlsdorfer Friedhof or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, is the biggest rural cemetery in the world and the fourth-largest cemetery in the world. Most of the people buried at the cemete ...

Selected portraits

Max Reger playing piano.jpg,

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

Elise Averdieck 1905.jpg, Elise Averdieck Leo Fall 1915.jpg,

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Maximilian Harden 1911.jpg,

Maximilian Harden __NOTOC__ Maximilian Harden (born Felix Ernst Witkowski, 20 October 1861 – 30 October 1927) was an influential German journalist and editor. Biography Born the son of a Jewish merchant in Berlin he attended the '' Französisches Gymnasium'' u ...

Max Warburg 1905.jpg,

Max Warburg Max Moritz Warburg (5 June 1867 – 26 December 1946) was a German banker and scion of the wealthy Warburg family based in Hamburg, Germany. Early life Max Warburg was one of seven children born to Moritz Warburg, the director of the family's Ha ...

Dührkoop Portrait of Olga Máté 1908.jpg,

Olga Máté Olga Máté (1 January 1878 – 5 April 1961) was one of the first women Hungarian photographers, most known for her portraits. She was known for her lighting techniques and used lighted backgrounds to enhance her portraits and still life compos ...

Harry Graf Kessler, 1917.jpg,

Harry Graf Kessler Harry Clemens Ulrich Graf von Kessler (23 May 1868 – 30 November 1937) was an Anglo-German count, diplomat, writer, and patron of modern art. English translations of his diaries "Journey to the Abyss" (2011) and "Berlin in Lights" (1971) reve ...

References

Sources

* Klaas Dierks: "Rudolph Dührkoop",' In: ''Portraits in Serie. Fotografien eines Jahrhunderts'', exhibition catalog,

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (''Museum of Art and Design Hamburg'') is a museum of fine, applied and decorative arts in Hamburg, Germany. It is located centrally, near the Hauptbahnhof. History The museum was founded in 1874, fol ...

, Kerber, 2010, pp.100–101 * Fritz Kempe: "Rudolf Dührkoop", In: ''Vor der Camera. Zur Geschichte der Photographie in Hamburg''. Hans Christians Verlag, Hamburg 1976, pp.82–89 * E. O. Hoppé: "Rudolf Dührkoop", In: ''

Photo-Era ''Photo Era: The American Journal of Photography ''was an American magazine for amateur photographers published in Boston from 1898 to 1931. Publishers Published by Photo Era Co. 185 Franklin Street, Boston, at its launch in May 1898, the magazin ...

'', The American Journal of Photography, Vol.22, 1909, pp.271-280
Online
* Fritz Matthies-Masuren: "Dührkoop und die moderne Bildnis-Photographie", In: ''Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration'', Darmstadt 1908, pp.22ff
Online

External links

*
Photographs by Dührkoop
@ Digiporta (digital portrait archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Duhrkoop, Rudolf 1848 births 1918 deaths German photographers Portrait photographers Royal Photographic Society members Photographers from Hamburg