Jeremiah Gurney

Jeremiah Gurney (October 17, 1812 – April 21, 1895), was an American daguerreotype photographer operating in New York.

Self-portrait, c. 1869
Two Girls in Identical Dresses, c. 1857, located at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
Gurney's Daguerrean Saloon
inside 349 Broadway,
c. 1853

Biography

Gurney worked in the jewelry trade in Saratoga, New York, but learned about the daguerreotype from Samuel Morse, took up photography, and after moving to New York City, began selling photographs alongside jewelry from his shop.[1] Different sources call him either the owner of the first photographic gallery in America and second practitioner after Morse,[1] or merely one of the earliest practitioners in New York City and "one of the first" photographic galleries on Broadway.[2]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art credits his success to him "producing the finest daguerreotypes in Gotham", and praises his "tonally delicate, startlingly three-dimensional portraits" such as his "Two Girls in Identical Dresses".[2] A Scientific American article, reviewing an 1853 photographic display at the Crystal Palace in London praises American photographers and calls out the "exquisite taste and skill displayed in the pictures of Gurney and others" at the exposition.[3]

Photographer of the American Civil War Mathew B. Brady was a journeyman in the firm that made the cases for Gurney's shop, and was inspired to enter photography by Gurney's success, starting up a rival firm.[1]

One of the things Gurney is best known for is having taken the only known photograph of Abraham Lincoln in death.[4][5][6]

References
  1. http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=243
  2. Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. "Crystal Palace Exhibits of 1853". Scientific American. 8 (49). August 20, 1853. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  4. Treasures of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library;  edited by Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein;  Page 101
  5. businessinsider.com; April 14, 2015  Retrieved October 19, 2015
  6. americancivilwarstory.com  (see appropriate caption);  Retrieved October 19, 2015

Bibliography
  • Peterson, Christian A. Chaining the Sun: Portraits by Jeremiah Gurney, ISBN 978-0-8166-3656-3, University of Minnesota Press (1999)
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