Gernsheim, Helmut Erich Robert

▪ 1996

      German-born British photographer, collector, and photographic historian (b. March 1, 1913, Munich, Germany—d. July 20, 1995, Switzerland), was central to the evolution of the history of photography as an academic discipline in his roles as one of the art's first serious collectors and as coauthor, with his wife Alison, of the authoritative reference work The History of Photography from the Earliest Use of the Camera Obscura in the Eleventh Century up to 1914 (1955), which was revised twice. Gernsheim studied art history and photography in Munich before finding employment (1937) as a commercial photographer in London. At the outbreak of World War II, he was interned in Australia as an enemy alien, but he was allowed to return to London in 1942 as a member of an official team chosen to photograph historic buildings that were at risk of destruction. After the war Gernsheim devoted much of his time to researching and collecting the work of early photographers, which many had previously deemed unworthy of serious study. His collection, which eventually exceeded 33,000 images in addition to hundreds of books and pieces of antique photographic equipment, was purchased by the University of Texas at Austin in 1964. Gernsheim's other books include Julia Margaret Cameron (1948) and Historic Events, 1839-1939 (1960; with Alison Gernsheim).

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