Charles (Carl Michael) Bernhoeft (22 July 1859 – 1933) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish photographer known for his portraits of the Grand Ducal court, as well as numerous landscapes that he turned into postcards."Charles Bernhoeft"
, Philately, ''P&T Luxembourg''. Retrieved 23 November 2010.

Early life and family

Born in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

on 22 July 1859, Bernhoeft was the son of army officer Carl Johann Adolph Bernhoeft and Marguerite Specht, the daughter of a merchant. He was the only son but had six sisters. In 1889, after studying photography and lithography, Bernhoeft married Marie-Louise Bernardy, a schoolteacher's daughter. They had two sons.René Clesse, "Geschichtsschreibung mit der Kamera: Die ersten Photographen unserer Hauptstadt"
. ''Onsstad''. . Retrieved 23 November 2010.

Career

Bernhoeft created a number of photo albums, illustrated magazines and several series of postcards, one of which contains 1,600 different images. Some 20 people were employed by his firm, ''Editions photographiques Bernhoeft''.Christian Mosar, "Exposition Charles Bernhoeft"
. ''Forum 254'', March 2006. Retrieved 23 November 2010. In 1895, together with the journalist Jean-Nicolas Moes, Bernhoeft launched Luxembourg's first illustrated weekly magazine, ''Das Luxemburger Land in Wort und Bild'', which published nine issues. Bernhoeft pont adolphe 1sept1901

He was appointed court photographer in 1891. His first studio in

was at 1, rue du Génie (now avenue Monterey), but by 1900 he constructed a three-storey building he called Atelier Bernhoeft at the corner of rue de l'Arsenal (Grand-Rue) and boulevard Royal. For his portraits, he used the widely available

carte de visite The ''carte de visite'' (, English: 'visiting card', abbr. 'CdV', pl. ''cartes de visite'') was a format of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero ...

and

cabinet card The cabinet card was a style of photograph that was widely used for Portrait photography, photographic portraiture after 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph mounted on a card typically measuring 108 by 165 mm ( by inches). History The ...

formats. Albums such as ''Cöln und der Rhein'' (1895–1896), ''Bilder aus der Pfalz'' (1895), ''Nederland in Beeld'' (1896) and ''Eifel-Album'' (1896) show that he did not travel far outside the borders of Luxembourg, although he did reproduce exotic pictures from exhibitions such as the Antwerp International Exposition in 1894. Bernhoeft's work did much to encourage tourism, which was just beginning to develop at the time. He not only published photographic albums documenting Luxembourg and its surroundings, but also illustrated maps of the city and the

Moselle Valley The Moselle Valley (, ; , ) is a region in north-eastern France, south-western Germany, and eastern Luxembourg, centred on the river valley formed by the river Moselle. The Moselle runs through, and along the borders of, the three countries, and ...

. His postcards were also popular with tourists.

Flash invention

Bernhoeft was also an inventor, developing systems providing indirect artificial lighting to facilitate portrait photography. He adapted the approach to magnesium flash photography, which proved successful for photographing children, unable to keep still for very long. He patented the device as Bernhoeft's Blitzlichtapparat Sanssouci and sold some 300 units.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhoeft, Charles Luxembourgian photographers 1859 births 1933 deaths People from Luxembourg City