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Fred Kruger (born Johan Friedrich Carl Kruger; 18 April 1831 – 15 February 1888) was a German-born photographer noted for his early photography of landscape and indigenous peoples in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Australia.


Migration to Australia from Germany

Kruger was born of a working-class family on 18 April 1831, at 16 Steingassestrasse,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Germany, and was baptised Johān Friedrich Carl Krüger. He was an upholsterer and, in 1858, married Auguste Wilhelmine Elisabeth Bauman at Friedrichwerder Church in Berlin. It is thought that his wife and son migrated to
Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
on 23 April 1863, some time after his own arrival. He initially joined a partnership in a furniture business that his brother Bernard had established at
Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...
in 1854. Kruger subsequently became the sole owner of the business, but then sold it before 1866, when he set up as cabinetmaker in Taradale.


Photographic career

Also in 1866, Kruger first registered his photography business at 133 Cardigan Street, Carlton, Melbourne, before moving it in August 1867 to High Street,
Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...
, Melbourne, continuing there until 1871, then relocating in Preston to High Street and again to Regent Street in that suburb. During this period, Kruger was achieving international recognition for his
landscape photography Landscape photography (often shortened to landscape photos) captures the world's outdoor spaces, sometimes vast and unending and other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on human-ma ...
, including the award of medals from both the 1872 Vienna Exhibition and the 1876
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...
. He became the first photographer to take group photos of the first Aboriginal cricket team in 1866, which became one of his most recognised images, and was subsequently commissioned in 1877 by the
Aboriginal Protection Board Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...
to create a collection of work including portraits of the Aboriginal residents of the Coranderrk reserve, an
Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...
run by the colonial government of Victoria, which was made public in 1883. Kruger won more awards; a gold medal for the best collection of landscape views and another, for the best panoramic view of
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
, at the Geelong Industrial and Juvenile Exhibition in 1879. In March 1879, Kruger was photographing groups of Geelong residents, ensuring each person could easily be identified in his detailed views, as he did when photographing the
Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Will ...
rowing crew in November 1879.


Reception

Kruger's works are held in most national collections including the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
, the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
and in the
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
where successive curators have provide commentary on his imagery.
Jennie Boddington Jennifer "Jennie" Boddington (née Blackwood) (1922 – 15 November 2015) was an Australian film director and producer, who was first curator of photography at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (1972–1994), and researcher. Earl ...
in 1980 observed Kruger's capture of significant detail in his scenes, while Dr Isobel Crombie, NGV Curator of Photography in 2012 concurred;


Geelong and later life

Kruger then settled in Geelong permanently, and his photography studio was registered on 29 December 1887 at Skene Street, in the Geelong suburb of Newtown. In 1880, he created a collection of twelve views of the streets and buildings of Geelong, which won him an award at the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. The government of Victoria engaged him to photograph the Yan Yean Waterworks for the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now exis ...
in London. Kruger gained commissions from house owners to photograph their homes, the most famous of which was from Lady Loch, the wife of the
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
. Kruger made three visits to the Queenscliff region, in 1881, 1882 and 1885, capturing views to include the buildings of the settlement and its marine setting. On 15 February 1888, Kruger died of
peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and covering of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One pa ...
, in the Melbourne suburb of Surrey Hills. Large holdings of his work have been showcased at the
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...
.


Projects and exhibitions

Kruger's work has been showcased all over the world. One of his most famous pieces of work was the very first group photo of the Aboriginal cricket team, named "Aboriginal Cricketers of Coranderrk", taken in 1866. He also took studio portraits of the three managers of the team. Kruger concentrated on landscape photographs, a comprehensive exhibition of which, ''Fred Kruger: Intimate Landscapes,'' was held at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 4 February to 8 July 2012, featuring over 100 prints of towns, buildings and streets familiar to present-day Victorians; the Esplanade at Queenscliff,
Point Lonsdale Point Lonsdale is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Poin ...
and the
You Yangs The You Yangs are a series of granite ridges that rise up to above the flat and low-lying Werribee Plain in southern Victoria, Australia, approximately due west of the rural town of Little River, southwest of Melbourne CBD and north o ...
, amongst other locations around Victoria. Kruger's expansive but richly detailed views provide visual data on the social and political standards of Victoria in the mid to late 19th century. The collection of images displays how the Europeans changed the environment in imposing their culture while also preserving a sense of the natural picturesque.


Awards

* 1872 Vienna exhibition in Austria: Gold Medal * 1876 Philadelphia Centennial exhibition, Gold Medal * 1879 Geelong Industrial and Juvenile exhibition * 1880 Geelong Industrial and Juvenile exhibition * 1880 Melbourne International exhibition * 1886 Colonial and Indian exhibition


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Fred 1831 births 1888 deaths Indigenous rights German emigrants to Australia People from the Colony of Victoria German landscape photographers Aboriginal Australian health 19th-century Australian photographers