This listing of the photographers and studios operating in Brisbane from 1855 to 1901, is an abridged version of the print publication 'Capturing Brisbane'.
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Kanter & Co
C Kanter & Co acquired the Imperial Photographic Company [2] in George Street, Brisbane around June 1890. When their building was destroyed by fire in March 1891, Kanter & Co appear to have ceased business. The identity of the proprietors of this company have not been confirmed.
Keogh, Francis Thomas Felix
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Francis Keogh arrived in Australia circa 1860. He married in Bathurst, NSW in 1862 and moved to Brisbane in 1863. He was appointed headmaster of the Fortitude Valley State School and then a Master at Brisbane Grammar School. In 1880 he became a stationer and bookseller, and introducing the first steam lithographic printer to Brisbane. He over-extended financially and became insolvent in that year. He returned to teaching during 1881-82.
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In 1883 he joined Gustave Collin as a partner in A Lomer & Co in Queen Street, Brisbane. The two worked successfully together for 11 years before dissolving the partnership in January 1894. Francis Keogh opened his own photographic studio around April 1894 in the former Tuttle & Co studio at 67 Queen Street, Brisbane. He relocated to a studio at 91 George Street, Brisbane in January 1895. Francis Keogh devoted time to a potential political career in 1896 but was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected as an independent member for Fortitude Valley. He returned to his business interests and opened another photographic studio in Bundaberg in June 1896. He was unable to manage both studios however, he closed the Brisbane studio around August 1896. The Bundaberg branch fared little better and closed by the end of the year, after which Francis Keogh ceased to work as a professional photographer.
Keys, Christian Victor
Born in England, Christian Keys grew up in London. He arrived in Sydney as ship’s crew in 1881 and worked on the Melbourne to Sydney coastal steamers. Between 1883 and 1886 it he trained as a photographer, but it is not known with whom. He opened his own studio in Singleton, NSW from November 1886. Keys was in Kempsey and surrounding areas from around 1889 to 1893. By 1894 he was in Bathurst and then Orange, where he was declared bankrupt.
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His itinerant lifestyle took him briefly to Charleville later that year, and then to Roma in 1895, followed by Thursday Island. He was in Charleville for a few weeks during July-August 1896, before moving to Brisbane around September. With a silent and unknown partner he established the photographic studio Seavey & Keys. The business occupied the former studio of Edward Hutchison opposite the Post Office in Queen Street. It operated until 17 March 1897, though Keys had already moved on before it closed. Over the next year he travelled across western Queensland before returning to Sydney where he died in July 1898.
Knight, William
William Knight was employed with the Ordnance Survey at Southampton, England in 1851. He emigrated to Melbourne in 1853 where he continued as a map engraver, working for a time with Thomas Ham . By 1856 he was travelling in the Goulburn area of Victoria as a professional photographer, and in 1858 had formed a partnership with William Himen in Collingwood.
Knight joined Thomas Ham in the formation of Thomas Ham & Co in Brisbane in late 1861, ostensibly to take charge of the photographic portion of the business. For the following five years Knight ran the portrait studio attached to the George Street business. Knight was appointed as an engraver in the lithographic branch of the Government Printing Office in Brisbane during September 1866, effectively ending his career as a photographer.
Krutli, Ernst Rudolph Christian Nikolaus
Born in Prussia, Ernst Krutli used many of his forenames over the years. He arrived in Adelaide in 1856, and married in 1861. He was a shopkeeper in Gawler for some years, before moving to Melbourne in the 1870s and then to Sydney by 1887. During that time he had eight children, some of whom became involved in photography. Ernest (as he was usually known) was of a volatile and intemperate character and did not appear to have settled into any trade or career. He followed his son Herman Krutli to Queensland in 1889, reportedly abandoning his wife and younger children in Sydney.
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Ernst Krutli had established an artist’s studio in Charles Street, New Farm by April 1889, and a few months later established a photo-enamelling workshop in Charlotte Street, Brisbane. Presumably this business contracted to photographic studios. Ernest’s wife and children joined him in July 1891, and his son Ernest Krutli joined him in the business. His marriage broke down and a divorce was granted to his wife during 1892. Ernst Krutli refused to pay maintenance and was gaoled by a court at the same time as he was declared insolvent. His son Ernest took over the running of the photo-enamelling business though his father appears to have remained involved. The business ceased to operate around mid-1898, and Ernst Krutli and at least two of his youngest children moved to Rockhampton. There he worked as an artist, and occasionally gave his occupation as a photographer though there is little evidence of any studio work.
Krutli, Ernest Adolphus
Ernest Krutli was born in Adelaide in 1873, the fifth son of Ernst Krutli. He joined his father in a photo-enamelling workshop in Charlotte Street, Brisbane in 1891, and by 1893 had taken over running the business. The workshop continued until mid-1898, and Ernest moved to Hope Street, South Brisbane where he continued to work as an artist until around 1901. By 1906 Ernest Krutli had moved to Numurkah in Victoria and there set up his own photographic studio, Krutli & Co.
Krutli, Herman Carl
Herman Krutli, the second son of Ernst Krutli was born in South Australia and moved with his family to Melbourne in the mid-1870s. He was apprenticed to photographer JW Lindt in Melbourne for five years and later in life he claimed to have been working with Lindt when he photographed Ned Kelly at Glenrowan. Krutli then moved to Sydney where later in 1880 he obtained work with John Roarty.
In Sydney Herman met Edward Hutchison who enticed him to Queensland to take charge of his studio. At the time Hutchison had studios in Brisbane and Toowoomba, and it is probable Herman Krutli worked in Brisbane circa 1885. When his contract with Hutchison ended Krutli roamed Queensland for a time, appearing in Rockhampton in early 1886, and then to Roma until 1888. He returned to New South Wales where he worked as a photographer into the 1930s.