Hoppé, Emil Otto (1878-1972), British photographer. Born in Munich and educated in Vienna, he moved to London c. 1900 to work in a bank. However, success as an amateur photographer led him to open a portrait studio in 1907, and he did so well that in 1913 he took over the mansion formerly owned by the painter John Everett Millais. Consciously breaking with convention, Hoppé worked to ‘thaw’ his sitters by engaging them in conversation and catching them in informal poses, even smoking. Sometimes (Jakob Epstein, Henry James) he photographed them at home using natural light. By 1914 he had a long list of literary, artistic, and society celebrities to his credit. In the 1920s he turned to landscapes and modernistic urban views; travelled extensively; and in 1930 published an outstanding volume of industrial photographs, Deutsche Arbeit (Germany at Work).
— Robin Lenman
Bibliography
- Pepper, T. (ed.), Camera Portraits by E. O. Hoppé (1978)
