Dührkoop, Rudolph (1848-1918), German pictorialist portrait photographer, born and mainly active in Hamburg. Originally a railway employee, Dührkoop took up photography in the 1880s, and from 1882 attended lectures by the Hamburg Kunsthalle director Alfred Lichtwark. He opened his first studio in 1883 and made his name when he began giving his portraits a more modern look by photographing clients at home or in the open air. He first exhibited in 1899, at the 6th Salon of the Hamburg Society for the Encouragement of Amateur Photography. Dührkoop subsequently spent time in Berlin, Paris, and London, and in 1904 visited the USA, where he met Gertrude Käsebier. In 1905 he published the collection Hamburg Men and Women at the Beginning of the 20th Century. In 1908 he became a member of the Royal Photographic Society, and in 1909 opened a second studio, in Berlin. He remained one of Germany's most sought-after portraitists. His daughter, Minya Dièz-Dührkoop, eventually took over his studio.
— Jens Jaeger
Bibliography
- Kaufhold, E., Bilder des Übergangs: Zur Mediengeschichte von Fotografie und Malerei in Deutschland um 1900 (1986)
