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Hans Gummersbach
By Stefan Fiedler
By Stefan Fiedler
German collector Hans Gummersbach has over the last 50 years built a formidable collection of photography. There have been phases and shifts of interest in his collecting but his love of daguerreotypes has endured.
Can you tell me about your background and when and how your interest in photography was
sparked?
It started early. During my teenage years, I became deeply interested in art and beautiful, intriguing relics from bygone eras. I later went on to study art and history. During a holiday trip through England in the summer of 1974, I happened upon a small, leather-covered case at a flea market in York. Inside was a portrait of an English gentleman. I was holding what was clearly an authentic trace of a person from the mid-19th century. That little image fascinated me deeply! I like to say: "It jumped into my heart!" And that fascination has endured for over five decades now.
quarter plate daguerreotype
Did you have mentors when you started collecting? Did you join any collectors' groups?
Yes, of course! Initially, however, I mainly looked for literature on early photography. In the late 1970s, there was very little to be found in Europe! During a three-month trip through Canada and the USA in 1981, much to my girlfriend's dismay, I photocopied hundreds of pages from books in every library I came across along the way! Then I met Uwe Scheid, who sadly passed away a few years ago. At the time, he was arguably the most important collector of erotic stereo daguerreotypes. Uwe provided me with contact details for auction houses and dealers, pointed out newly published literature, and introduced me to key photo historians and collectors. Vladimir Delavre, one of the founders of the "Club Daguerre" in Germany, was also particularly important to me early on, as were Bodo von Dewitz, the long-time curator of the major collections at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and later Ulrich Pohlmann from the Munich City Museum. I was a member of the "Club Daguerre" for many years, though it was primarily a group for camera collectors. I was also a member of the Dutch collectors' club and the French "Société de la photographie" for a few years. However, in the early 1990s, the "Daguerreian Society" in the USA became my primary "home base". I remain very well connected there to this day.
How did your collecting activities progress after that?
Initially, I bought anything photographic that had a silvery sheen, at flea markets and antique shops, and later at specialised photo fairs in France, England, the Netherlands, and Germany, always within the limits of my modest student budget, of course!
Back then, the fascination with the aura of the daguerreotype led me to make many poor choices. Like all beginners, I paid a lot of "tuition" in the form of mistakes! I simply lacked the necessary knowledge...
but that changed very quickly.
Society of young men, Germany, c.1845, daguerreotype, quarter plate.
How did you further your knowledge over the years?
In 1985, I was incredibly lucky to acquire part of the photo-historical library of a dedicated, early-days collector: 500 volumes on early photography and 500 auction catalogues from Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Swann Galleries, Bonhams, and others, dating back to the early 1970s. I was absolutely amazed! I also frequently attended conferences and collector gatherings organised by Club Daguerre, and later the symposia held by the Daguerreian Society in the USA, which were particularly fascinating! Above all, because you could meet top collectors, museum curators, and art historians on equal footing there. I learned a great deal from that!
Where did you buy your pieces, and where do you buy them today?
When I first started collecting in the mid-1970s, you could still find the occasional fine object at flea markets, antique markets, or in the antique shops that were common back then. Today, that is hardly possible anymore, and sadly, there are very few antique shops left. Over time, I got to know the key dealers from France, England, and the USA, who would regularly offer me interesting items. I often found it hard to resist! Of course, auctions were, and still are, exciting. For beginners, eBay can certainly be a treasure trove, too. However, I haven’t discovered anything for my own collection there in a long time, though, of course, you can get lucky.
Ladies in profile, USA c.1850, daguerreotype.
What do you most regret not acquiring?
When I visited the fair in Bièvres for the second or third time in the late 1970s, a dealer handed me a full-plate daguerreotype of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome. I was completely overwhelmed. I had never seen anything like it. I later discovered that it was actually the original source for the copperplate engraving in the Excursions Daguerreiennes. This fantastic daguerreotype was priced at 25,000 DM (!); that’s about €12,500 today! Nowadays, it would surely be worth ten times that amount. As a young student back then, of course, such a sum was completely out of reach for me. I believe the image is now in the Alinari Collection in Florence. And it almost ended up in my possession!
Do you concentrate on specific themes or countries?
Not really. The images have to appeal to me and tell a story. However, I also find rare ephemera that document the cultural-historical context of those early years very exciting. For example, a Parisian daily newspaper from August 20, 1839, featuring a detailed article about the famous Academy session from the previous day, or a lottery ticket from Constantinople dating to 1851. The prize in that lottery was "une machine daguerreotype." Something like that must be truly unique!
Alice Mary Hawes, Boston c.1845, daguerreotype, sixth plate.
What is the main focus of your collection, and why?
Over such a long life of collecting, there are many different phases and areas of interest. However, my love for the daguerreotype has outlasted them all. I discovered early on that I was particularly drawn to the aura of uniqueness inherent in these early photographic images! In his wonderful essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Walter Benjamin writes: "In the fleeting expression of a human face, the aura beckons for the last time from the early photographs. That is what constitutes their melancholy and incomparable beauty." For about 25 years, however, my collection has had a different primary objective: to tell the story of the prehistory and early history of photography, an epoch-making medium! It begins with the first depictions of the camera obscura, such as those depicted in Athanasius Kircher’s Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (1646), and continues through Johann Heinrich Schulze’s essay on his discovery of the reaction between silver salts and light in the early 18th century; ...continuing with the generally growing desire for new images, including images of oneself, during the Age of Enlightenment and emancipation; the fascination with new optical novelties, like peep shows, perspective devices, and magic lanterns, used for both entertainment and the dissemination of knowledge; the boom in miniature portraits and the vogue for silhouettes and physionotraces in the final third of the 18th century; the utopian vision of photographic images in Tiphaigne de la Roche’s 1760 novel Giphantia; and leading up to the era of experimentation and, finally, the first daguerreotypes, all of this is represented by fine examples in my collection.
Odalisque, Paris, 1855, stereo-daguerreotype.
Your collection has become legendary. Can you give a brief overview of the collection?
There are more than two thousand objects in the collection. Highlights include early prints, scientific books, physionotraces, silhouettes, miniatures, a letter and watercolour by Louis Daguerre, a watercolour by Charles Bouton, Comptes rendus from January and August 1839, various Daguerre manuals dating from 1839 onwards, as well as daily newspapers. I have many examples of optical toys from the 18th and early 19th centuries; camera obscura, camera lucida, peepshow boxes, Engelbrecht perspective views, anamorphoses, Polyorama Panoptique, paper peepshows. To that should be added approximately four hundred daguerreotypes from France, England, Germany, and America, representing all the major studios. About fifty stereo daguerreotypes by photographers, including Disdéri, Braquehais, Moulin, Claudet, Kilburn, T.R. Williams, Trutpert Schneider…
In addition, around one hundred interesting ambrotypes, including Japanese examples. Almost all contemporary caricatures relating to early photography. All the Daumiers! Examples of optical toys from the 18th and early 19th centuries (camera obscura, camera lucida, peepshow boxes, Engelbrecht perspective views, anamorphoses, Polyorama Panoptique, paper peepshows and albumen prints by photographers, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Francis Frith, Roger Fenton, Julien de Villeneuve, Adolphe Braun, Giorgio Sommer. There are also modern daguerreotypes by Jerry Spagnoli, Takashi Arai, and Benjamin Terrano, among others.
Selfportrait of Eduard Biewend with his little daughter "Ich und mein Luischen", Hamburg, 1851, daguerreotype.
What else are you on the hunt for?
I love photographic images that tell me stories! Images that inspire me to understand the historical scene. With daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and very early paper prints, this might involve—for instance—specific poses and expressions, distinctive objects, unusual clothing, unique studio settings, or outdoor shots that allow me to imaginatively relive a moment from the past.
Have you documented your collection and if so, how?
Yes, all objects are photographed, scanned and briefly described.
Which events, trade fairs, etc. do you regularly attend?
My collecting year is usually well paced! In spring: Vienna, in June: Bievres, in autumn: “Daguerreian Society” then in November: Paris Photo. Sometimes Photo London in May or the very nice market in Doesburg in the Netherlands in August. And because I'm also interested in contemporary art, the Biennale in Venice and the DOCUMENTA in Kassel also are on my list. “Fortunately”, they don’t happen every year!
How many/which exhibitions of your collection have you organised so far?
Over the many years, I have made loans to special exhibitions several times. To name just a few museums, objects from my collection were shown in the large exhibition Le daguerreotype francais. Un object photographique in 2003 at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, in the exhibition at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe entitled Light and Canvas (2019), as well as the exhibition on early 19th century miniature paintings For your eyes only at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, which ended in June 2026. In 2021 there was a first extensive presentation of the collection entitled NEW TRUTH? LITTLE MIRACLES! at the Georg Schäfer Museum in Schweinfurt, Bavaria. The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue with the same title, which was published by Wienand Verlag in Cologne.
Girl with large hat, London c.1850, daguerreotype, quarter plate.
What are your long-term plans for your collection?
I was born in 1954 so naturally it has made me think about where there could be a future home for such a multifaceted and almost complete collection on the prehistory and early history of photography. In all modesty, I don’t believe that a museum curator today could still manage to put together such an academic collection. So that things can stay together in context, it would be wonderful to find a museum that would take over the collection, maintain it and continue to add to it. If this does not succeed, it will unfortunately atomise itself again on the art market in auctions and in the trade in the next few years.
Which photo collections, museums, archives, etc., do you regard as absolute must-sees?
Many major museums in Europe house photography collections. However, in my view, photography takes an even more prominent place in the US. That said, public collections vary greatly in their areas of focus and quality. If you are interested in the early days of photography, you should definitely visit the Munich City Museum (Stadtmuseum München). It is the best of the best! The collections at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne are remarkable, as are those at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, though the latter has a slightly different focus. A unique collection with a rich history can be found at the Museum of Arts and Crafts (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe) in Hamburg. Furthermore, you will find fascinating photography exhibits at the Reiss- Engelhorn-Museum in Mannheim, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, or, for lovers of Italy, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Aspects of photography from 1900 to the present day are featured at the Museum of Photography (Museum für Fotografie) in Berlin, among other places; additionally, a truly special collection dedicated to August Sander, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, and others can be seen at the Photographic Collection of the SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne. If you are interested in visiting, simply get in touch with the relevant curators; they will certainly be happy to welcome you.
What advice would you give to young, interested collectors?
Collecting photographic images can be a wonderful and fulfilling journey through time. This journey begins in the first third of the 19th century with the magnificent inventions of Niépce, Daguerre, and Talbot. Their photographs allow one to sense the aura of a bygone era. Discover your own aesthetic and contextual preferences, and use them to develop your personal collecting criteria and areas of focus! If you wish to embark on this journey through time, there is much to do: gathering information, seeking out relevant catalogues and books, attending trade fairs and markets, visiting exhibitions, and joining collectors' clubs. Over time, you will naturally establish contacts; with museum curators, experts in the fields of art and scholarship, art dealers, and—of course—fellow collectors. As with any serious collecting endeavour, the path to becoming a connoisseur requires effort, yet it is also incredibly interesting and exciting. You will learn to truly see and to distinguish between good and bad works, or between those of high value and those of lesser worth. Like me, you will almost certainly make mistakes along the way. But that is no problem, we learn from our mistakes! All in all, a deeply fulfilling journey through the art and cultural history of the 19th century awaits you! "Let it jump into your heart!" A wonderful field of collecting awaits you.
The harpist, USA, c.1850, daguerreotype, half plate.