Rudolf Johannes Dührkoop (1 August 1848,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

– 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 lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. Frequentl ...

; 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 The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, 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 (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. 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, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

, 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 the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

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 ( or (former) ) in the Ohlsdorf, Hamburg, 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 cemetery are c ...

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, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

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

Max Warburg 1905.jpg, Max Warburg Dührkoop Portrait of Olga Máté 1908.jpg, Olga Máté Harry Graf Kessler, 1917.jpg,

Harry Graf Kessler Count Harry Clemens Ulrich von Kessler (''Harry Clemens Ulrich Graf von Kessler'' in German; 23 May 1868 – 30 November 1937), also known as Harry Graf Kessler, was an Anglo-German diplomat, writer, and patron of modern art. English translat ...

Portrait of Gottlieb Daimler by Rudolf Dührkoop.jpg,

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fue ...

References

External links

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

Biography

Selected portraits

References

Further reading

External links