Old family photographs are so precious. Some of us have hundreds, some may have only a handful and sadly others may have none. Many of the older photos in our collections are studio photographs. Our ancestors excitedly sought out a studio, and either alone or in a group had a picture taken to commemorate any number of important occasions, events or milestones.
By the end of the 1860s, portraits on card or paper backing had become the most popular style of photograph available. They were cheap, quick and easy. Also called ‘cabinet cards’, these increasingly ubiquitous items could be displayed anywhere in your home, passed around to friends and family members or collected into newly designed ‘albums’. You could also purchase cards of famous people, as Olga Rozenvalds did with her photograph of the Tsarevitch Alexei Romanov.
Studio portraits in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often show people straight-faced, unsmiling and dour. This was due to the fact that they were forced to hold their pose for quite a long time to get a correct exposure. A smiling face was just too hard to hold.
Sometimes these photographs would be mounted on a cardboard backing that included the name of the studio proudly displayed. Or sometimes the studio information is on the back. Small studio portraits from further into the 20th century sometimes just have a stamp on the back.
It may not mean much, but I think it is interesting to look up the history of these studios. After all, this was a place that this person actually went to. Perhaps they came already dressed to the nines. Maybe they were proudly wearing their military uniform. Or maybe they borrowed clothes, hats or accessories from the studio collection. They would choose a backdrop and props, either provided by the studio or something they brought from home. And then the photographer would find the perfect pose for the occasion.
We own or have access to several photographs from different time periods of members of the family that have a studio listed. Let’s look at some of these.
Jelgava: Lavize Rozenbergs circa 1880
The oldest photographs we have found with a studio listed are photographs of Lavize Rozenbergs. Lavize was the younger half-sister of my husband’s great-great grandfather Kristaps Rozenvalds. Lavize’s father, Geddert Rozenbergs, was also the paternal grandfather of the famous Latvian writer Elza Rozenbergs, better knowns as Aspazija.
Lavize was born in 1861 in the village of Zalenieki, southwest of Jelgava. She had a couple of nice studio portraits done in Jelgava (known by its German name of Mitau in those days). By examining her hair and clothing style I believe these date from around 1880. I would guess they may have been taken to commemorate her confirmation in the Lutheran Church.
One of the photographs clearly has the name ‘C. Frey, Mitau’ printed on it. The photographer was Carl Frey. But other than the existence of it in the late 19th century, I could find no further information about the studio. The other photo has printing in the lower left-hand corner, but it has been damaged and the only words visible are ‘..NGLER’. Not much to go on! I asked a well-known Jelgava historian about these studios but even he didn’t have any information. If anyone knows anything about these studios in Jelgava please let me know!
Helsingfors: Andrejs Zekants in 1904/1905
‘Helsingfors’ was the German name for the modern city of Helsinki. This was a common destination for Latvian navy conscripts and merchant seamen to train and serve in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This photograph depicts Andrejs Zekants as a fresh-faced young navy man. This was probably during his mandatory service. The studio written on this cabinet card photo is ‘Atelier Ernst’ at Alexandersgaten 17.
This studio was owned by Ernst Ovésen, a Norwegian born in 1878. He was a young man of 26 when he took over an existing Helsinki studio, renaming it after himself. He ran the studio only until 1907 when he sold it to Gertrud Leino. Ovésen remained a prominent name in film and photography through the next several decades, passing away in 1960. The original buildings from this time period are long gone and the address today (Aleksanterinkatu 17) is the location of the World Trade Center of Helsinki, right in the middle to the city.
Knowing that this studio only ran from 1904 to 1907 opened up some questions about Andrejs’s timeline. I had assumed that he did his military service before graduating from sailing school. That would make his service in the late 1890s. But unless he had a later copy made from an older glass plate negative from the former studio, this navy photo had to be taken between 1904 and 1907. Was Andrejs in the navy during the 1904/1905 Russo-Japanese War? Maybe we will never know. This highlights how researching a studio can help to narrow down dates and timelines. It puts someone in a specific place and time.
San Francisco: Elizabeth Vimba Churkste 1907-1911
Elizabeth Vimba was born in Lithuania in 1890 but came to Riga as a small child. Her mother, Lize, died when she and her siblings were young and her father, Karl Vimba, remarried Lavize Rozenbergs (see photos above). Lavize and Karl had one daughter of their own and Lavize helped to raise both that daughter and her several step-children. Sometime before WWI, Elizabeth emigrated to the United States. She settled on the west coast and later, after WWII she would sponsor Lavize’s daughter’s family to emigrate as well. Those descendants provided me with this beautiful photo of Elizabeth which was probably taken not long after arriving in the USA.
Her clothing is gorgeous and that hat!! An incredibly fashionable portrait.
The photo studio was ‘The Johnson Studio’ at 1228 Fillmore St., San Francisco’. This studio, which was in operation at different locations between 1907 and 1931, was known for catering to the Scandinavian and Baltic communities. Fillmore Street hosted many photography studios during this time, each catering to a different ethnic group. The Johnson Studio was only on Fillmore St between 1907 and 1911 so we know this photograph must date during that time. The studio was run by Charles M. Johnson who was born in Ohio in 1850. He worked with various partners and at various studios until opening his own in 1907. City directories no longer list him after 1931 and it is thought that he must have passed away in the 1930s.
Estonia: The Zekants Brothers in 1909/1910
I was very excited when I found this photo. I had been researching the Zekants family history for a few years and never thought I would ever find a photo of my father-in-law’s grandfather. But making contact with the descendants of Andrejs Zekants provided this gem of a photo. Brothers Andrejs, Karl and Žanis Zekants, all sailors, are getting their portrait taken while in port in Estonia. The only known photograph of Karl and Žanis.
The brothers are in fancy clothes complete with flowers on their lapels. They are each holding both a full glass of beer and a cigar. This definitely feels like a celebration of some kind. Based on the date, I guess it could be celebrating the youngest brother, Žanis, finishing up sailing school. Or maybe Andrejs becoming a father as his daughter had been born at the end of 1908. Or maybe it was the first time the brothers had sailed together and they just wanted to have a good time. I guess we will probably never know.
This photo was taken at the ‘Gebr. Christin’ studio. I can’t be sure if it was taken in Revel (modern day Tallinn) or in Narva. Somehow I feel like it was Tallinn. This studio was run by two brothers (hence the name Brothers Christin). Jaan and Hans were born into a peasant family in Livonia (the old name for what is today northern Latvia). The brothers studied photography in Valmiera, Tartu and St. Petersburg and then opened their studio together in Tallinn in 1890 on Endla Street.
The brothers worked together until 1893, when Jaan moved to their Narva studio while Hans stayed to run multiple locations in the capital of Tallinn. The brothers became famous for their iconic scenes of places and landscapes in Estonia, as well as their portraits of prominent people of the day. Jann actually was one of the first people to take photographs for the Estonian National Museum. His original glass negatives are now housed there. Hans died in 1910 and his brother Jaan died in 1919. I believe that the Zekants photo was probably taken in 1909 or 1910.
Riga & Majorenhof: Andrejs & Lizette Zekants in 1911/1912
Probably at the end of 1911, Andrejs and his wife Lizette had their portrait taken at the photography studio of Leonhard von Wirschikowski. This studio’s main location was Riga but they also had a summer-only studio in the popular seaside town of Majorenhof (known as Majori today) to capitalize on wealthy city-dwellers on their summer holidays. The Riga studio was located at 2 Alexander Boulevard and the Majori location was at Johmenstraße 23 (known today as Jomas street).
Alexander Blvd. is today’s Brīvības iela, one of the major thoroughfares in central Riga. The Wirschikowski studio stood where Brīvības iela intersects with Merķeļa iela, just steps away from the Riga Freedom Monument. The building today is 32 Brīvības iela. The studio moved in 1912 to 14 Krišjāņa Barona iela.
Leonard Aleksander Wyrzykowski was of Polish/Lithuanian origin and was born in 1856. His studio was one of the premier studios for high-quality portraits and cabinet cards in Riga at the turn of the 20th century. He, along with fellow photographer Bronisław Czerwiński, opened the studio in 1885. Wyrzykowski ran the studio until 1925 when he moved to Vilnius where he died in 1927.
I have always imagined Andrejs to be a man of status. An entrepreneur who saw his star rising. It makes sense to me that he would seek out the most prestigious portrait studio for this portrait, at a time when Riga was in a Golden Age of prosperity and influence. Little did he and Lizette know that probably months or even weeks after this photo was taken, Andrejs would be gunned down in the street, outside his own place of business, over nothing more than a few bottles of beer.
Riga: Žanis Zekants in 1930
Žanis Zekants, my husband’s grandfather, had a small studio portrait done on the 24th of November 1930. Most likely this was made in anticipation of his first adult ID document, known as a Riga Internal Passport. We have an original of this photo and the same photo is in the archives in his 1930 passport.
On the back of our copy is a stamp that says ‘Foto “Gaisma” 24-Nov-1930 Riga Kr. Barona iela 30’. This was a popular studio making school portraits, children’s photos and other standard portraits. The word gaisma means light in Latvian.
The building at No. 30 was a mixed-use building with both residential and business occupants. According to newspaper articles at the end of 1930 there was a popular hat shop in the building run by Roza Machtus. Only two weeks after Žanis had this photo taken, the hat shop was vandalized by what the newspaper dubbed ‘Sam’s Gang’. Street level windows were broken and many hats stolen.
The studio was in existence up until the occupation years of the early 1940s.
Germany: Žanis Zekants in 1946
By December of 1946, Žanis Zekants had seen a lot. He had been part of the Siege of Leningrad, left his homeland forever, fought with the Latvian Legion near Berlin, barely escaped with his life to surrender to the Americans, spent months as a prisoner of war in northern Germany and had finally made his way to the Nuremberg area where he would spend the rest of the 1940s. While taking some time out to visit the well-known spa town of Bad Mergentheim, he decided it was time for a new studio portrait!
The studio name, which is embossed along the bottom of the small photo, was called Richard Holl Studios. Richard Holl was born in 1874 and died in 1947, only a few months after this photo was taken. Richard and his brother Hugo were sons of Ludvig Holl who was a royal court photographer and purveyor. Richard and Hugo are also labelled a ‘Court Photographers’ on their family gravestone in Bad Mergentheim.
Why It’s Important
It may seem like a minor detail, a random photographer’s mark on an old photograph. But it is also a clue. At the very least it can narrow down the date of the photograph. Many studios only operated for a short time. And if you have an address, you may be able to pinpoint a date even further. It can also give historical context to the place and time the photo was taken. It may give clues as to why the photo was taken or what event it was commemorating. So, take a second look at those old photos and see what you can find!
If you are interested in the history of Latvian photography or would like help in researching old photos check out the Latvian Museum of Photography, whose vast historic collections are open to the public.