Gertrude Elizabeth (Stanton) Käsebier (1852 - 1934)

Gertrude Elizabeth Stanton is born May 18, 1852 in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. She is a daughter of John W. Stanton and Gertrude Muncy Boone.^[1][2]

In 1860, Stanton travels with her mother and younger brother to join her father in Colorado. After the sudden death of her father in 1864, the family moves to Brooklyn, New York, where her mother, opened a boarding house to support the family. From 1866-70 Stanton lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with her maternal grandmother and attends the Bethlehem Female Seminary.

In 1874, she marries Eduard Käsebier. The couple have three children, Frederick William, Gertrude Elizabeth and Hermine Mathilde.^[1][3][4] In 1884, they move to a farm in New Durham, New Jersey.

Käsebier later writes that she was miserable throughout most of her marriage. At that time, divorce is considered scandalous, and the two remained married while living separate lives after 1880.

In spite of their differences, her husband supports her financially when she begins to attend art school. In 1889, she moves the family back to Brooklyn to attend the newly established Pratt Institute of Art and Design full-time.

She formally studies drawing and painting, but she quickly becomes obsessed with photography. Käsebier decides to travel to Europe to further her education. She begins in 1894 by spending several weeks studying the chemistry of photography in Germany, where she is able to leave her daughters with in-laws in Wiesbaden. She spends the rest of the year in France.

In 1895, she returns to Brooklyn. In part because her husband is now quite ill and her family's finances are strained. She becomes an assistant to Brooklyn portrait photographer Samuel H. Lifshey, where she learns how to run a studio and expand her knowledge of printing techniques. Just one year later, she exhibits 150 photographs. These same photos were shown in February 1897 at the Pratt Institute.

The success of these shows leads to another at the Photographic Society of Philadelphia in 1897. She also lectures on her work there and encourages other women to take up photography as a career.

In 1898, Käsebier watches Buffalo Bill's Wild West troupe parade past her Fifth Avenue studio in New York City, New York. Her memories of affection and respect for the Lakota people inspired her to send a letter to William “Buffalo Bill” Cody requesting permission to photograph in her studio members of the Sioux tribe traveling with the show. Cody quickly approveds Käsebier's request and she begins her project on Sunday morning, April 14, 1898.

Over the next decade, she takes dozens of photographs of the Indians, some of which would become her most famous images.

Käsebier focuses on the expression and individuality of the person than the costumes and customs. In July 1899, Alfred Stieglitz publishes five of Käsebier's photographs in Camera Notes.

In 1902, Stieglitz includes Käsebier as a founding member of the Photo-Secession. The following year, Stieglitz publishes six of her images in the first issue of Camera Work. In 1905 six more of her images were published in Camera Work, and the following year, Stieglitz gave her an exhibition at his Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession.

The strain of balancing her professional life with her personal one began to take a toll on Käsebier at this time. The stress is exacerbated by her husband's decision to move to Oceanside, Long Island, which had the effect of distancing her from the New York's artistic center. To counter his action, she returns to Europe.

In May 1906, Käsebier joins the Professional Photographers of New York.

In 1912, Käsebier becomes the first member to resign from the Photo-Secession.

In 1916, Käsebier helps Clarence H. White found the group Pictorial Photographers of America.

Throughout the late 1910s and most of the 1920s, Käsebier continues to expand her portrait business, taking photos of many important people of the time. In 1924, her daughter Hermine Turner joins her in her portrait business.

In 1929, Käsebier gives up photography altogether and liquidates the contents of her studio. That same year, she wis given a major one-person exhibition at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.

Käsebier dies on October 13, 1934 at the home of her daughter, Hermine Turner in Manhattan, New York, New York, United States.^[2]

In 1979, Käsebier was posthumously inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum ^[5].

In June 2002, the US Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor ^[6].

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} New York State Census, 1875, Gertrude Koesbeir in household of John W Stanton, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States; citing p. 44, line 13, State Library, Albany.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949, Gertrude E. Kasebier, 13 Oct 1934; citing Death, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York.
3. ↑ United States Census, 1880, Gertrude Kaesebier in household of Edward Kaesebier, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district ED 71, sheet 571B.
4. ↑ United States Census, 1900, Gertrude Kasebier in household of Edward Kasebier, Borough of Brooklyn, Election District 7 New York City Ward 23, Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 387, sheet 4B, family 89.
5. ↑ "Gertrude Käsebier," International Photography Hall of Fame.
6. ↑ Smithsonian National Postal Museum

See also:

• Wikipedia: Gertrude Kasebier
• Käsebier Collections, Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress