Frank Haes

Frank Haes, a pioneering photographer, was born in Camberwell, London. From his childhood, he had been exploring techniques for capturing the wonders of nature. He wrote: “My first attempts in the black art began when I was not more than 11 years old, with the calotype process for copying leaves, etc, but I soon wanted a camera, and having never seen one, tried to make it with pasteboard and the field-glass of a shilling telescope.”

Acquiring a proper camera in his late teens, his future was mapped out. He was soon exhibiting views of English architecture at exhibitions in London put on by the newly formed Photographic Society (later Royal Photographic Society, of which he became an Honorary Fellow). Over time, he became best known for images of animals at London Zoo, some of which he sold as stereoscopic cards and glass magic-lantern slides; he also created an important portfolio of wildlife in Australia, some of which has since become extinct. With a separate interest in history – which led him to serve as secretary and treasurer to the newly-formed Jewish Historical Society of England – he was frequently called upon to photograph objects of historical significance.

But he was interested in the kit as well as the output. Working with a fellow-photographer, he devised a roller mechanism for the camera, enabling him to stock a whole day’s large-format shooting inside his camera. Come the 1890s, he regularly spent his Fridays at the Caledonian Road Cattle Market in Market Road, Barnsbury – which was by then morphing into a paradise for bric-a-brac seekers – looking for photographic kit and artefacts.