Samuel Herman Gottscho (February 8, 1875 – January 28, 1971) was an American architectural, landscape, and nature photographer. Gottscho was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He acquired his first camera in 1896 and took his first photograph at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

. From 1896 to 1920 he photographed part-time, specializing in houses and gardens, as he particularly enjoyed nature, rural life, and landscapes. After attending several architectural photograph exhibitions, Gottscho decided to perfect and improve his own work and sought out several architects and landscape architects. After twenty-three years as a traveling lace and fabric salesman, Gottscho became a professional commercial photographer at the age of 50. His son-in-law William Schleisner joined Gottscho in his business in 1935. During this time his photographs appeared in and on the covers of '' American Architect and Architecture'', ''

Architectural Record ''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. Its editor in chief is Josephine Minutillo. ''The Record'', as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important ...

''. His portraits and architectural photography regularly appeared in articles in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

. His photographs of private homes in the New York and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

suburbs often appeared in home decoration magazines. From the early 1940s to the late 1960s, he was a regular contributor to the Times of illustrated articles on wildflowers. Gottscho believed he created some of his best work at the age of 70. In 1967, his botanical work won him the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

's Distinguished Service Medal. He died in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...

, New York. Approximately 29,000 of his images are held in the Gottscho-Schleisner collection at the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Additionally, over 40,000 are held by the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

, where an exhibition of his work titled "The Mythic City: Photographs of New York by Samuel H. Gottscho, 1925-1940," opened in November 2005. A third major archive of his work is held by

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the world's largest architecture library, is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in New York City. Serving Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning a ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Publications

* ''Manhattan'' 1933 * ''A pocket guide to wildflowers: How to identify and enjoy them'' 1951 * ''Architectural and Decorative Features of St. Bartholomew's Church in the City of New York'' 1941 * ''A portfolio of views of the New York World's Fair of 1939'' 1939 * ''Wild-Flower Bounty from a L.I. Bog'' by Samuel H. Gottscho. New York Times: Jul 31, 1966 * ''MAY GARDENS'' by Samuel H. Gottscho. New York Times: May 4, 1941

References

Bibliography

More than 5,000 photographs by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collections of the Museum of the City of New York

Artnet

* ''The Mythic City: Photographs of New York by Samuel H. Gottscho, 1925-1940'', Donald Albrecht, Princeton 2005, * ''New York: Capital of Photography'',

Max Kozloff Maxwell Kozloff (June 21, 1933 – April 6, 2025) was an American art historian, art critic of modern art, and photographer. He was art editor at ''The Nation'', and executive editor of ''Artforum''. His essay ''American Painting During the Cold ...

, Yale 2002, * HWWilsonweb.com Database: ''Art Retrospective'' * Obituary ''Camera'' (English Edition) v. 50 (March 1971) p. 54 ISSN 0366-7073 * ''The Man and the Myth'' by Donald Albrecht in ''Interior Design'', NYC, v.76 no.11 Sept. 2005 * Social Security Death Index * Obituary, New York Times January 29, 1971 * "Samuel Gottsho Photographer Dies" New York Times, January 29, 1971

External links

Samuel Gottscho American architecture : photographs and negatives, circa 1925-1939
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottscho, Samuel H. Pioneers of photography American nature photographers 1875 births 1971 deaths Photographers from Brooklyn