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Biography
Isidore van Kinsbergen was born in Bruges in the south-
ern Netherlands (now Belgium) on 3 September 1821,
as the son of a Flemish mother and a Dutch father. In the
1840s Van Kinsbergen worked as an engraver in Ghent
where he also studied Chant français at the Conserva-
tory. In 1851 he moved to Batavia in the Dutch East In-
dies (now Jakarta in Indonesia), where he was appointed
as a set painter for the Théâtre Français de Batavia. He
would be closely involved in the theatre world until his
death. In 1855 he took up photography, later opening
a commercial studio in Batavia. Van Kinsbergen was
one of the fi rst photographers to visit Siam (Thailand,
1862), and to photograph the rulers of Yogyakarta,
Surakarta and Bali (1862–1865). He became famous
for his extensive photo series of Javanese antiquities
commissioned by the Dutch colonial government and
the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, published
as the series Oudheden van Java [Antiquities of Java]
(1863–1867) and Boro-Boedoer [Borobudur] (1873).
He exhibited at the World Exhibitions in Vienna (1873),
Paris (1878) and Amsterdam (1883). Van Kinsbergen
died on 10 September 1905 in Batavia.
See also: Asser, Eduard Isaac; Edouard-Denis
Baldus; Bisson, Louis-Auguste and Auguste-Rosalie;
Schaefer, Adolph; Woodbury, Walter Bentley; Tripe,
Linnaeus; and Bonaparte, Roland, Prince.
Further Reading
Falconer, John, Photographs of Java, Bali, Sumatra, 1860s–
1920s, Paris: Les Éditions du Pacifi que, 2000.
Lunsingh-Scheurleer, Pauline, “Isidore van Kinsbergen: Photo-
grapher of Javanese Antiquities,” in Toward Independence:
A Century of Indonesia Photographed, edited by Jane Levy
Reed, San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1991.
Merrillees, Scott, Batavia in nineteenth century photographs,
Richmond: Curzon, 2000.
Rouffaer, G.P., “Monumentale kunst op Java” [Monumental Art
on Java] in De Gids 19 (1901), 225–252.
Theuns-de Boer, Gerda (research) & Saskia Asser (editor). Isidore
van Kinsbergen (1821–1905): Photo Pioneer and Theatre
Maker in the Dutch East Indies, Zaltbommel: Aprilis/Leiden:
KITLV Press, 2005.
Wachlin, Steven, Woodbury & Page, Photographers Java, Leiden:
KITLV Press 1994.
VAN MONCKHOVEN, DÉSIRÉ
(1834–1882)
Belgian photographic scientist, writer, and
industrialist
Désiré van Monckhoven was born in Ghent on 25 Sep-
tember 1834, the only child of an unmarried mother.
Despite these inauspicious beginnings, van Monckhoven
proved to be a gifted child, showing a marked interest
in physics and chemistry. His academic promise earned
him a transfer from the Quanonne Institute, where he
was training to be a clerk, to the Atheneum [high school].
Van Monckhoven briefl y became a bank clerk, but pur-
sued his passion for photography, which enabled him to
turn his knowledge of science to commercial use.
Van Monckhoven received a thorough ground-
ing in photographic practice from Charles D’Hoy
(1823–1892), one of the fi rst professionals in Ghent,
and by 1853 or 1854 van Monckhoven had supplied a
view of the local gothic town hall for the series Variétés
photographiques published by Louis-Désiré Blanquart-
Evrard. However, van Monckhoven’s predilection was
for research and writing, rather than running a studio.
Barely 20 years old, he published the fi rst edition of
his Traité de photographie sur collodion [Treatise on
collodium photography], Paris: A. Gaudin et frère,- An initial printing in March 1855 of 1500 copies
sold out, and was following by a second printing of
750 copies later in the year. This success persuaded his
publishers to bring out a second, greatly expanded edi-
tion of the textbook. Van Monckhoven’s Traité général
de photographie [General treatise on photography],
Paris: A. Gaudin et frère, 1856, in a print-run of 3000
copies, consolidated the author’s reputation as a lead-
ing photographic scientist in continental Europe, an
independent researcher able to analyse and arrive at
accurate, fault-free formulae, and to disseminate these
in clear and unambiguous language.
In order to legitimize his standing in the eyes of the
broader scientifi c community, van Monckhoven enrolled
as a student at the University of Ghent in 1857, where
he was awarded a doctorate in natural science in 1862.
In parallel, he continued his output of handbooks, col-
lecting data from an array of sources and setting out
his tried-and-tested conclusions in practical form. His
work Méthodes simplifi ées de photographie sur papier
[Simplified methods of paper photography], Paris:
Marion et Cie; A. Gaudin et frère, 1857, was followed
by Procédé nouveau de photographie sur plaques de fer
[New process of photography on ferrous plates], Paris:
A. Gaudin et frère; A. Secretan, 1858, a third edition of
his magisterial Traité under the title Répertoire général
de photographie Paris et Londres, A. Gaudin et frère,
1859, and a simplifi ed version of the latter as Traité
populaire de photographie sur collodion, Paris: Leiber, - Van Monckhoven was also a joint founder of the
monthly Bulletin belge de la photographie in 1862,
contributing a column on technical innovations.
Van Monckhoven turned his attention to photographic
optics. He took out a Belgian patent in August 1863 for
“an optical apparatus intended for enlarging by projec-
tion.” Running counter to diurnal motion, the sun’s
rays were refl ected uniformly by means of a mirror
propelled mechanically by clockwork. Further patent