Charles Bierstadt

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

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 removed 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 brother Edward made numerous trials and experiments which proved successful, and then they established themselves in business as photographers. In 1863 Bierstadt removed 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] He died in Niagara Falls in 1903.

Examples of his stereoviews are held by the NY Public Library.^[3]

References

1. ^ Landmarks of Niagara County, New York; William Pool, Ed.: D. Mason & Company, 1897
2. ^ The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820–1920; William Truettner, editor. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1991.
3. ^ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:NYPL_by_Charles_Bierstadt