532
which had been founded in 1889. A successful exhibi-
tion was held in 1892 when 24 members exhibited 375
photographs, and soon similar clubs were established
in Turku, Viipuri, Vaasa and Tampere.
Nyblin’s pre-eminence was challenged in 1889 by
the arrival of K E Ståhlberg, and by Christmas 1890,
Ståhlberg adopted Nyblin’s ideas and offered his cus-
tomers photographs of the countryside. He printed
them larger than the familiar cabinet-size urban views
and they had immediate appeal. To consolidate his idea
and increase the coverage of the country, he recruited
travelling photographers, which included Into Kondrad
Inha and Samuli Paulaharju. At the time, Finnish law
required identifi cation to be incorporated on the contact
prints, details of author, studio, date and location of the
photographs have survived. For indoor photography,
Ståhlberg freed himself from the inferior natural lighting
of Nordic winters by equipping his studio, the Atelier
Apollo, with electric light in 1900.
In 1870, the Finnish Literary Society had awarded a
scholarship to Reinhold Theodor Hausen to assemble
a photographic record of historical monuments, and
with the advent of dry plates, photography become an
important aspect of the offi cial expeditions, which ex-
plored and surveyed Lapland between 1877 and 1887.
The Finnish Polar Expedition (1882—84) had a remit
to study the northern lights at Sodankylå but no useful
records were obtained by the expedition engineer, Karl
Granit, on account of limitations in the materials and
equipment.
The value of photography was further recognised
in 1890 when Helsinki Observatory participated in an
international study of the heavens and Anders Donner
recorded the stars during the next twenty years. The
success of an exhibition of photographs, staged by the
Geographical Society of Finland in 1894, provided the
basis for many important studies in the 20th century.
Ron M. Callender
See also: Calotype and Talbotype; and Cartes-de-
Visite.
Further Reading
Friedman, Martin, (ed.), The Frozen Image : Scandinavian Pho-
tography, New York: Abbeville Press, 1982.
Hirn, Sven, Kameran Edestä ja Takaa: Valokuvaus ja Valoku-
vaajet Suomessa 1839–1870, (From the front and behind
the camera: Photography and Photographers in Finland:
1839–1870), Helsinki: The Photographic Museum of Fin-
land, 1972.
Hirn, Sven, Ateljeesta Luontoon, [From the Studio to Nature],
Helsinki: The Photographic Museum of Finland, 1977.
——, (ed.), Valokuvan Taide, [Photographic Art: Finland pho-
tography 1842 - 1992], Helsinki: SKS.
——, (ed.), Kirjoituksia Suomalaisesta Valokuvasta, [Writings
on the Finnish Photograph], Helsinki.
FISHER, GEORGE THOMAS
(dates unknown)
The chemist George Thomas Fisher Jr. authored one
of the early popular manuals on photography—Pho-
togenic manipulation, containing plain instructions
in the theory and practice of the arts of photography:
calotype, cyanotype, ferrotype, chrysotype, anthotype,
daguerreotype, and thermography. First published as
a 50 page book in 1843 by George Knight of London,
it ran to three editions in two years. In the following
year, the book was translated into German and Dutch
and editions published in Leipzig by Händel, and by
Stenfert Kroese in Arnhem.
In 1845, expanded to 56 pages, the book was split
into two sections, with section two dealing exclusively
with the daguerreotype. Published in both Great Britain,
by Knight, and the US by Carey & Hart of Philadelphia,
it was even more successful than the original. In 1848,
the book was completely rewritten by Robert Bingham,
still using the title Photogenic Manipulation, Part 1 at
72 pages and part 2 at 58 pages, running to many sub-
sequent editions into the mid-1850s.
In September of 1851, an article by Fisher appeared
in the Photographic Art Journal on “Thermography—
Electrical and Galvanic Impressions.”
Little is known of Fisher’s life except that he styled
himself, at the time the fi rst edition was published, as
‘Assistant in the Laboratory of the London Institu-
tion.’ Gernsheim (Incunabula of British Photographic
Literature, 1984) states that the authorship passed to
Bingham in 1848 after Fisher’s death, but the 1851
article in the Photographic Art Journal would seem to
question that.
John HannavyFISKE, GEORGE (1835–1918)
George Fiske was born to farming parents in New Hamp-
shire, and trained as a banker in San Francisco, before
turning his attention to photography. He is reputed to
have joined Robert Vance and Charles Leander Weed—
the fi rst person to photograph in Yosemite as an assistant,
and an assistant to Carleton E Watkins as well.
Fiske moved to Yosemite with his wife in 1879,
devoting the remainder of his working life to study-
ing and photographing the landscape, alongside Galen
Clark, who had become the fi rst Guardian when the na-
tional park was created in 1864. When Clark’s book The
Yosemite Valley: Its History, Characteristic Features,
and Theories regarding Its origins was published by
Nelson L. Slater in 1910, the majority of the illustrations
were by Fiske.
Living in Yosemite all year round, he was the fi rst
to photograph the valley in winter, creating dramatic