PHOTOGRAPHS
Pach Brothers Studio; Pach, Gustavus; Pach, Gotthelf; Pach, Morris
U.S. (active New York City, 1867 - 1895); Germany / U.S. (1848 - 1904); Germany / U.S. (1852 - 1925); Germany / U.S. (1837 - 1914)
B.H.S. '93 (in sports-wear)
1893
Albumen print
10 x 13 1/2 in. (25.4x 34.3 cm) image and sheet size; 10 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. (27.3 x 34.9 cm) mount board size
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection
FA 2001.132

The Pach Brothers studio was founded in New York by three German immigrants during the mid-1860s. The business was a spectacular success, and operated seasonal studios in college towns from the 1870s onward. By carving out a niche in the collegiate portraiture market, the brothers became the photographers of the Ivy League establishment. The studio specialized in photographing athletes and often posed them in formal or sportswear.

In 1895, a devastating fire destroyed the New York branch, including their entire archive of negatives. The brothers rebuilt and a second generation continued the enterprise until the mid-1960s.

-- Label copy for From Public to Private: The Evolution of Portrait Photography in Everyday American Life (1850-1900), March 10 to June 10, 2012.