Arnold Genthe
(From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia)
Genthe was born in
Berlin, Germany to Louise Zober and Hermann Genthe, a professor of Latin
and Greek at the Graues Kloster (Grey Monastery) in Berlin. Arnold
followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a classically trained
scholar; he received a doctorate in philology in 1894 at the University of
Jena, where he knew artist Adolf Menzel, his mother's cousin.
After emigrating to San Francisco in 1895 to work as a tutor, he taught
himself photography. He was intrigued by the Chinese section of the city
and photographed its inhabitants, from children to drug addicts, Due to
his subjects' possible fear of his camera or their reluctance to have
pictures taken, Genthe sometimes hid his camera. He sometimes removed
evidence of Western culture from these pictures, cropping or erasing as
needed. About 200 of his Chinatown pictures survive and these comprise the
only known photographic depictions of the area before 1906 earthquake.
After local magazines published some of his photographs in the late 1890s,
he opened a portrait studio. He knew some of the city's wealthy matrons,
and as his reputation grew, his clientèle included Nance O'Neil, Sarah
Bernhardt, and Jack London.
In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed Genthe's studio,
but he rebuilt. His photograph of the earthquake's aftermath, Looking Down
Sacramento Street, San Francisco, April 18, 1906, is his most famous
photograph.
In 1911 he moved to New York City, where he remained until his death of a
heart attack in 1942. He worked primarily in portraiture and Theodore
Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and John D. Rockefeller all sat for him. His
photos of Greta Garbo were credited with boosting her career. He also
photographed modern dancers, including Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, and
Ruth St. Denis, and his photos were featured in the 1916 book, The Book of
the Dance. He also was an early experimenter with the autochrome color
photography process
