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French photographer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Albert Levy (1847 – 1931)[1] was a French photographer active in Europe and the United States. Most active in the 1880s and 1890s, he was a pioneer of architectural photography.
He developed a catalogue with 2500 titles that is available through the Gallica web project[2] of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) as well as in the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. His catalogue covers France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. He was one of the first photographers to have studios on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean: in Paris and New York.
His main contribution to history documentation was his "Albert Levy's architectural photographic Series" in the 1870s that consists of albums with 30–40 albumen prints of the Architecture of the United States, with a size of 20x24 cm approximately. There are at least 36 series.
Levy was born in Paris in 1847 and died in Asnières-sur-Seine.[3] However, the 1880 United States Census notes that he was 33 years old, which would put his birth date at 1847 if he was asked his "age on your birthday anniversary in 1880". Alternatively, it could be either 1846 or 1847 if asked for his age at the time of being asked (which could be before or after his birthday anniversary in 1880).[4] The New York Passengers list 1820–1957 indicates that he came to the United States in 1876 and that his occupation was photographer.[5] The 1880 Census gives his profession as bookseller.[4]
There are indications that Albert Levy was a photographer who also worked variously as bookseller,[4] editor,[6] and manufacturer.[7] His main occupation was photographer.[5] Active between 1870s-1890s,[8] he worked in France in 1876 and in the United States in the 1880s and 1890s.[9] He was one of the few photographers to have two studios at the same time in America and Europe. Actually, he had several studios:
Apart from photographer and bookseller, he was also pioneer in the manufacture of the gelatin dry plates in 1878.[10] Because of the work he developed, he was an early competitor of George Eastman.[7][11] He published several ads on "The Philadelphia Photographer" before Eastman's patent (1879):[12]
[...] Unequalled for rapidity (fully equal to the both plate) intensity to any degree on simple development without silver or other intensifier and absolutely permanent and without change. Albert Levy sole proprietor. Preservative for dry plates (more rapid than wet) [...]
Finally, he was an editor whose catalogue is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France(BnF) and in the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library.
The main occupation of Albert Levy was Architectural photography. He developed most of his work in the 1870s. He started working in Europe and then he moved to the United States when he was 33 years old, but he still worked in Europe. His catalogue of 1887 (with 2500 titles) demonstrates that he did architectural photography in France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. The took albumen photographies that collected with the following standards:
He focused his work on the new buildings of important architects like:
Important owners of the buildings he took photos are William Henry Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Samuel J. Tilden, Oliver Ames, John Harjés.
His most important contribution to history consists on the "Albert Levy's Architectural photographic series" that are a collection[17] of at least[18] 36 albums with 30-40 albumen prints of the architecture of the United States and Europe in the 1870s. In these series there are photos of Washington, Baltimore, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Albany, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Zurich, Berna, Berlin and cities of France among others. He used to create the series depending on the type of buildings been photographed. Some of the series are:[19][20][21]
A selection of this unique archive of Europe's and American Architecture in the 19th century was lately edited by Andre, Daly fils et Cie. (French editors specialized in Architecture) to collect the best of the Albert Levy's architectural series in the album "L'Architecture Americaine" and show it in Europe. This collection consists of 3 series of albums:
Each serie has 36 photos. All of them are described in the book "American Victorian Architecture".[22]
He participated in the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia[23]
The main holders of his photos are:
Some examples of his work can be found at the HALIC (Historical Architecture and Landscape Image Collection) of the Art Institute of Chicago. Search for "Albert Levy".
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