634
HARE, GEORGE
running in slots on each side of the camera. The lens
panel, in common with many Hare cameras was held in
position by two vertical rods running in slots on the base-
board. As the British Journal of Photography remarked
‘it forms the model upon which nearly all others in the
market are based.’ Hare’s only other patent was granted
on 7 May 1875 for a photographic changing box which
held twelve plates that could be changed within the box
without the need for a darkroom. He also made cameras
for other camera makers, notably J H Dallmeyer, to sell
under their own names.
George Hare was ‘regarded as the maker of a fi eld
or studio camera of the very highest class’ whose
name ‘was a household word among photographers.’
Mechanisation in camera manufacture from the later
1880s gradually made Hare’s cameras expensive and
his designs which had not altered signifi cantly since the
1860s were increasingly seen as being dated and less
practical compared to more portable models.
Hare retired around 1911. His son, James ‘Jimmy’
Henry Hare (1856–1946) had emigrated to America
in 1889 where he had a successful career as a pho-
tographer and war correspondent. A Quaker, Hare
was described as ‘an upright, honest, hard-working
temperate citizen.’ He died in York on 21 November
1913 aged 89 years.
Michael Pritchard
HARRISON, CHARLES C. (D. 1864)
American photographer
Sometimes referred to as C.C. Harrison, Charles C.
Harrison was an American daguerreotypist and lens
maker who was active in New York in the late 1840s and
1850s. In 1846 Harrison began to made daguerreotypes
in New York, where he continued to operate until his
death in 1864. Little is known about his photographs,
but he exhibited, either photographs or apparatus, at
the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1853–54, and in other
exhibitions in New York through the 1850s.
Harrison is best known for his innovations in camera
lenses. In 1849, Harrison began to manufacture high
quality lenses and in 1851 was awarded a silver medal
at the American Institute for Daguerreian apparatus.
He continued to manufacture lenses for daguerreotype
cameras, in joint partnership with Edward Anthony and
later James L. Scovill. In 1858, Harrison was awarded a
patent for a lens diaphragm in 1858. In 1860, he began to
work with the German lens designer J. Schnitzer on the
“Globe” lens. Patented in 1862 and used primarily for
stereo photography, this was the fi rst true wide angle lens
that reduced distortion and provided a large, fl at view-
ing fi eld. By that time, Harrison’s operation, which he
continued to supervise, was jointly owned by Anthony
and Scovill, subsequently sold it to Nelson Wright. Har-
rison died in New York on November 23, 1864.
Sarah KennelHARRISON, GABRIEL (1818–1902)
Born March, 1818, in Philadelphia. Father was an art-
ist and engraver who moved the family to New York in- Harrison made his professional acting debut in
1838, then married, and fathered son George Washing-
ton Harrison.
He began daguerreotyping in Plumbe’s New York
gallery, about 1844. Won fi rst gold medals in 1845,
becoming known for daguerreotypes of “religious,
patriotic, & poetical subjects.” Worked in the M. M.
Lawrence gallery from 1847–51, yet remained active
in acting & politics.
In 1852, opened the magnifi cent Harrison & Hill
Gallery, in Brooklyn. Continued in various photographic
mediums—plus acting—until political life set-backs
ended his photographic career in the early 1860’s. He
remained active in painting, music, & acting in Brook-
lyn, dying there in 1902, at 83.
He is well-known for promoting high aesthetic & op-
erating standards for photographers. Harrison’s famous
Harrison, Gabriel. California News.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilman Collection,
Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundaton Gift, 2005
(2005.100.334) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.