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Charles Bierstadt

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Yosemite, CA, 1870 - 1885

Charles Bierstadt (1819–1903) was an American photographer who specialized in stereoscopic views.

Biography

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Bierstadt was born at Solingen, Prussia, November 28, 1819, a son of Henry Bierstadt. He was the older brother of the landscape painter Albert Bierstadt. He was educated in the national schools of his native town and New Bedford, Massachusetts, whence his parents moved in 1831. At fifteen years of age he began his apprenticeship at cabinetmaking and during his six years of service he spent some time in the study of photography, in which, in 1856, he and his other younger brother Edward Bierstadt made numerous trials and experiments which proved successful, and then they established themselves in business as photographers. In 1863 Bierstadt moved his business to Niagara Falls, New York where he carried it on with great success. He was an expert in stereoscopic views and had in connection with his manufactory a large bazaar where his views and many relics and curios were displayed to advantage.[1] In 1870 he visited California and photographed Yosemite.[2][3] In 1873, he traveled for five months to Europe, Palestine, Egypt, and Tripoli to take photographs published the next year. While in Europe, he won the highest award at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair for his stereoviews of Niagara Falls. [4]

Bierstadt died in Niagara Falls in 1903.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Landmarks of Niagara County, New York; William Pool, Ed.: D. Mason & Company, 1897
  2. ^ Truettner, William H.; Museum, Denver Art; Museum, St Louis Art (1991). The West as America: reinterpreting images of the frontier, 1820-1920. Published for the National Museum of American Art by the Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 9781560980247.
  3. ^ The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820–1920; William Truettner, editor. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1991.
  4. ^ DiLaura, Mark (1990). "Niagara Falls" (PDF). Stereo World. 17 (4): 4–23. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  5. ^ Dan Harper (May 14, 2009). "Yet another Universalist: Charles Bierstadt, photographer". Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, vol.1. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
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