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Passionate Customer Service Museum Quality Art Prints Customization Options AvailableIn 1910, the world looked different. William Davis Hassler came to New York from a small Pennsylvanian town with his wife and son in 1905 and worked there as a professional photographer from 1909. Joseph P. Day, a land broker who had already sold large parts of Brooklyn and Queens, saw the future in the Bronx. "The man who sold the Bronx" commissioned Hassler to photograph the Bronx, undeveloped lots, but also the Bronx already built on. For New York electric companies, Hassler shot photos of electrical installations, close-ups of electrical parts such as a lamp socket, and images of electricity, for example, beautifully (electrically) lit streets and storefronts. One spectacular photo shows the Manhattan Bridge from above, photographed from Brooklyn Tower, with the old piers on the East River in the background.
But in many of the more than 5,000 photographs preserved at the New-York Historical Society, Hassler's family and his residential neighborhood of Inwood play the starring role. Inwood is the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan, bounded by the Hudson River to the west and the Harlem River to the north and east. At the time, Inwood still had an almost rural, provincial feel. Hassler photographed parks, school classes, fire engines, old-fashioned steaming and still pulled by horses, the somehow "quintessentially American" police couple of the neighborhood, rows of houses, streets, also the many dirt roads, factories, boathouses on the Harlem River, excursion boats, community festivals. Many photos show his apartment, everyday life indoors and out, family celebrations, the family in the allotment, outings, and in a great many shots also his son, his cats Reddy and Peach: Peach in a basket in the middle of a still life of corn on the cob and tomatoes; William Gray, about eight years old, fast asleep, with teddy bear in his arms; William Gray and the cat Reddy having breakfast at the small children's table. The scenes seem like snapshots - but: each photo was carefully staged. For the children's cat breakfast, a candle burns decoratively next to a package of "Quakers Puffed Rice Cereal", a typical American ready-made morning porridge - the photo was probably a commissioned advertising shot. Capturing the startled, astonished look on the boy's face as the cat stands up to lick milk from the little table - that's just Hassler's great photographic art.
Because: spontaneously shooting photos with a cell phone? That didn't exist in 1915. William Davis Hassler used the Kodak No. 8 Cirkut outfit for professionals, which with a tripod could even shoot panoramic photos at 180 degrees. But the whole camera equipment weighed about 20 kilograms. And in analog photography, there were negatives that had to be developed first. Hassler used glass plates, the most common photographic medium before films made of rollable celluloid could provide good photo quality. The glass plates were coated with a light-sensitive emulsion - a film of black-and-white gelatin - and developed into a negative after the photograph was taken. Exposure times, and thus the pure shot, were much longer than today, which is why the tripod was needed. On the other hand, the glass plate process produces black and white photos with beautiful gray tones and areas of blur while maintaining high detail.
Why do Hassler's photographs touch us? Is it the look back into our past, into a long gone world in New York?
In 1910, the world looked different. William Davis Hassler came to New York from a small Pennsylvanian town with his wife and son in 1905 and worked there as a professional photographer from 1909. Joseph P. Day, a land broker who had already sold large parts of Brooklyn and Queens, saw the future in the Bronx. "The man who sold the Bronx" commissioned Hassler to photograph the Bronx, undeveloped lots, but also the Bronx already built on. For New York electric companies, Hassler shot photos of electrical installations, close-ups of electrical parts such as a lamp socket, and images of electricity, for example, beautifully (electrically) lit streets and storefronts. One spectacular photo shows the Manhattan Bridge from above, photographed from Brooklyn Tower, with the old piers on the East River in the background.
But in many of the more than 5,000 photographs preserved at the New-York Historical Society, Hassler's family and his residential neighborhood of Inwood play the starring role. Inwood is the northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan, bounded by the Hudson River to the west and the Harlem River to the north and east. At the time, Inwood still had an almost rural, provincial feel. Hassler photographed parks, school classes, fire engines, old-fashioned steaming and still pulled by horses, the somehow "quintessentially American" police couple of the neighborhood, rows of houses, streets, also the many dirt roads, factories, boathouses on the Harlem River, excursion boats, community festivals. Many photos show his apartment, everyday life indoors and out, family celebrations, the family in the allotment, outings, and in a great many shots also his son, his cats Reddy and Peach: Peach in a basket in the middle of a still life of corn on the cob and tomatoes; William Gray, about eight years old, fast asleep, with teddy bear in his arms; William Gray and the cat Reddy having breakfast at the small children's table. The scenes seem like snapshots - but: each photo was carefully staged. For the children's cat breakfast, a candle burns decoratively next to a package of "Quakers Puffed Rice Cereal", a typical American ready-made morning porridge - the photo was probably a commissioned advertising shot. Capturing the startled, astonished look on the boy's face as the cat stands up to lick milk from the little table - that's just Hassler's great photographic art.
Because: spontaneously shooting photos with a cell phone? That didn't exist in 1915. William Davis Hassler used the Kodak No. 8 Cirkut outfit for professionals, which with a tripod could even shoot panoramic photos at 180 degrees. But the whole camera equipment weighed about 20 kilograms. And in analog photography, there were negatives that had to be developed first. Hassler used glass plates, the most common photographic medium before films made of rollable celluloid could provide good photo quality. The glass plates were coated with a light-sensitive emulsion - a film of black-and-white gelatin - and developed into a negative after the photograph was taken. Exposure times, and thus the pure shot, were much longer than today, which is why the tripod was needed. On the other hand, the glass plate process produces black and white photos with beautiful gray tones and areas of blur while maintaining high detail.
Why do Hassler's photographs touch us? Is it the look back into our past, into a long gone world in New York?
_Ji_-_(MeisterDrucke-251946).jpg "Group portrait of English boxer William Thomas Wells (Bombardier Billy Wells), Jim Maloney, and")
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_posing_in_training_t_-_(MeisterDrucke-272711).jpg "English Boxer William Thomas Wells (Bombardier Billy Wells), Posing in Training Togs with a Speed Bag by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Group of Little Girls Posed on a Small Stage Holding Dolls, Probably the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Kingsbridge, Bronx, c.1911 by William Davis Hassler")
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_posing_in_training_t_-_(MeisterDrucke-274714).jpg "English Boxer William Thomas Wells (Bombardier Billy Wells), Posing in Training Togs Doing Leg Lifts by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Sherman Creek Power Station, W. 201st Street, Inwood, New York City, June 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Pair of kewpie dolls, c.1913 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Window Display of Ribbons, Gimbel")
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.jpg "Tryon Hall, Billings Estate, Inwood, New York City, c.1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Horse-Drawn Hearse Belonging to F.S. York, New York City, December 1, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Group Portrait of Children from the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Kingsbridge, Bronx, in Fancy Dress for a Mother Goose Party by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Jointing the Ogee of a Wooden Casket, Oneida, New York, April 3, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "View of the Polo Grounds from the bleachers to the field and grandstand, New York, July 3, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Bease group portrait: men, women, children, and small dog by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Seymour boy posed with tricycle beside Christmas tree in parlor, Christmas 1912 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Unidentified boys shooting craps on a stoop, New York City, May 30, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Audubon Ballroom, 165th Street and Broadway, c.1910-21 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Unidentified woman in")
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.jpg "Men working in the W. 129th Street sewer, New York, c.1911 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Night View of the Entrance of the Main Branch of the New York Public Library from the Northeast Steps, in the Snow, 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City, March 6, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "The Grave of Washington Irving, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Tarrytown, N.Y., July 8, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Erie Railroad Locomotive, Side View, c.1911-12 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Men working in the W. 129th Street sewer, New York by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Children Working in the Isham Park School Garden, New York City, August 16, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Children Working in the Isham Park School Garden, New York City, August 16, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Larry Casey and John Connolly posed in their winter uniforms in the snow, Isham Park, Inwood, New York City, March 7, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "R.M.S. Carpathia loading at Pier 54 N.R. by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Children working in the school garden in Isham Park, New York City, August 5, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Men Working in the W. 129th Street Sewer, New York by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Interior of Unidentified Police Station, Showing Officers and Front Desk, c.1913-14 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Children working in the garden at the Poppenhusen branch of the Queens Borough Public Library, August 14, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Illuminated Signs in Times Square, New York City, 1917 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Aerial view of the Polo Grounds by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Erie Railroad locomotive, head-on, c.1911-12 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "The McCready farm barn and Thomas residence, Pennsylvania by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Girl stenographer on roof with pad by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Farm Workers Loading Hay on to Horse-Drawn Hay Wagon as Three Children Watch, McCready Farm, Crawford County, Pennsylvania by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Northern Border of New York City at Broadway at 263rd Street, Bronx, Looking North, June 8, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "The Henry W. Merriam House, Newton, N.J., c.1911-12 by William Davis Hassler")
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_and_friends_c1910_-_(MeisterDrucke-199925).jpg "English boxer William Thomas Wells (Bombardier Billy Wells) and friends, c.1910 by William Davis Hassler")
_and_friends_c1910_-_(MeisterDrucke-199925).jpg)
_posing_in_training_t_-_(MeisterDrucke-146568).jpg "English Boxer William Thomas Wells (Bombardier Billy Wells), Posing in Training Togs with Weight Pulleys, c.1911 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Group of children in cart, with girl and woman standing behind by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Barefoot boy, possibly William Gray Hassler, plays with dog on the shore of a river or lake, New York, c.1910 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Postal Telegraph sign, 1906 Broadway, New York City, August 18, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Ludlow Street at Hester Street, Lower East Side, c.1910-21 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "1807-1813 Park Avenue, 124-125th Streets, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "The U.S.S. Utah in Dry Dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Worker fitting a piece of a casket lid, Oneida, New York, April 3, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Under the Elevated Railroad Tracks at the Corner of Greenwich Street and Rector Street, New York City by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "High-angle view of Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, September 2, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "High Angle View of the Campus of the City College of New York, New York City, July 16, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Coal pocket, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1912 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Illuminated Sign for Haig and Haig Whiskey, New York City, January 6, 1917 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "William Gray Hassler and Reddy the Cat, Eating Quaker Puffed Rice Cereal by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Members of the Salvation Army relief corps about to depart for the Dayton, Ohio flood by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Beach Scene, Coney Island by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Barge")
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.jpg "Sign for Dr. H.Y. Halley, 1456 St. Nicholas Avenue, New York City, August 2, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Lining a")
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.jpg "Group portrait of unidentified little girls, probably the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Kingsbridge, Bronx, c.1910 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Rowboat and Swimmers in the Water, Coney Island, c.1910-21 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Bathers at Brighton Beach, Brooklyn by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Boys and girls playing tug-o-war on an unidentified playground, c.1910 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Butcher, c.1910-21 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Little girls at the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Kingsbridge, Bronx, coming back from chapel in white dresses with wreathes and garlands, October 20, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Unidentified woman demonstrating the use of the Apex vacuum cleaner, c.1913-14 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Worker inside the W. 129th Street sewer, New York, c.1911 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Grotto with Shrine to the Virgin Mary, Seton Hospital, Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, November 2, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Young woman in a maid")
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.jpg "New York Public Library and Bryant Park by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Night View in Columbus Circle by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Erecting a concrete mixer at 1910 63rd Street, Brooklyn, c.1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Campus of the City College of New York, viewed from St. Nicholas Avenue, New York City by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Ethel Gray Magaw Hassler taking bread from the oven by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "The Boat House, Central Park, New York City, July 19, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Statue of William Tecumseh Sherman on 59th Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City, c.1913 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Unidentified Child Standing in Front of a Christmas Tree Wearing Boxing Gloves, 1915-16 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Toddler")
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.jpg "Graduating Class of Girls from the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Posed Before the Grotto with Their Diplomas by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Fifth Floor Workshop, Geyser Electric Water Heater Company, 42 Hudson Street, New York City, December 31, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Quinn family group portrait by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "View Inside the W. 129th Street Sewer, New York, c.1911 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Interior View of the 95th Street Market, New York City, October 22, 1915 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Northern border of New York City at Broadway at 263rd Street, looking south, June 8, 1914 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Times Square, crowded with cars, buses and people, c.1917 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "United Electric Light and Power Company Storefront Decorated for")
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.jpg "Dan Seymour and family in informal pose, seated beneath a Christmas tree, Christmas 1912 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "William Gray Hassler in straw hat and overalls, carrying fishing pole and basket in the woods by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "William Gray Hassler posing with bow and arrow, c.1912 by William Davis Hassler"){kind=icon}
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.jpg "Coaling Steamship with Portable Bucket Conveyors by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "K.E. Barry Squatter")
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.jpg "Mrs. Perenes")
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.jpg "Small Girls Pose in and in Front of a Horse-Drawn Wagon, in Front of an Unidentified Building, Probably the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Kingsbridge, Bronx by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Bowling alley sign at 248 W. 14th Street, New York City, May 2, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Children Reading in the Reading Room of an Unidentified Branch of the Queens Borough Public Library by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Sign for J und M Shoe, 1429 Broadway, New York City, August 2, 1916 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Illuminated Signs in Times Square, New York City, 1917 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Farm workers loading hay on to horse-drawn hay wagon, McCready Farm, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, c.1913 by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "William Gray Hassler in Straw Hat and Overalls, Carrying Fishing Pole and Basket, Walking Down a Path in the Woods Alone by William Davis Hassler")
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.jpg "Night View of 207th Street Looking East from Vermilyea Avenue in the Snow, New York City by William Davis Hassler")
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