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Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim

author

German[1] b. 1 March 1913, Munich, Germany[1] d. 20 July 1995, Switzerland[1] active from 1934

Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim (1913-1995) was a German-born historian of photography, collector, photographer and author. Born in Munich on 1 March 1913, the third son of academic librarian Karl Gernsheim, he studied art history at the University of Munich and took up photography in 1934, graduating from the State School of Photography in Munich after two years. In 1945 he discovered long-forgotten early photographs, including an image from 1826-27 usually regarded as the oldest surviving photograph, which became the basis of the Gernsheim Collection. With his wife Alison Gernsheim he wrote The History of Photography (1955), translated into many languages. His collection was sold to the University of Texas at Austin in 1963, forming the basis of a photography department at the Humanities Research Center. He later lived in Lugano, Switzerland, and died in Switzerland on 20 July 1995. He was the first historian inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. The 1979 Dutch selection of Lewis Carroll's photographs, Lewis Carroll: victoriaans fotograaf, is credited to him.[1,2,3,4]

  • history of photography
  • early photography
  • photographica collecting
  • Lewis Carroll's photography

Works by Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim

  • 1979 Lewis Carroll victoriaans fotograaf Meulenhoff/Landshoff · book · Dutch · ISBN 9029081112 Book in question. The record's free-text author field names Carroll, the subject and photographer; catalogue sources credit Gernsheim as author.
  • 1955 The History of Photography book · English Co-written with Alison Gernsheim.

Awards

  • Inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum

References

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Helmut Gernsheim. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation link
  2. Helmut Gernsheim. Lewis Carroll. Victoriaans fotograaf. Amazon.com. Meulenhoff/Landshoff. 1979 link
  3. HOF Inductee Helmut Gernsheim. International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum link
  4. Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin. Helmut and Alison Gernsheim: An Inventory of Their Papers. Harry Ransom Center finding aids. University of Texas at Austin link