Norwegian photographer
Anders Beer Wilse
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![Anders Beer Wilse ca. 1935](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Anders_Beer_Wilse.png/220px-Anders_Beer_Wilse.png) Anders Beer Wilse ca. 1935
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Born
| (
1865-06-12
)
12 June 1865
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Died
| 21 February 1949
(1949-02-21)
(aged 83)
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Nationality
| Norwegian
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Anders Beer Wilse
(12 June 1865 ? 21 February 1949) was a
Norwegian
photographer
who documented Norway in the early to mid-20th century and also worked in the United States.
Wilse was born in
Flekkefjord
, but grew up in
Kragerø
and decided early to become a sailor. After having graduated with a technical degree from the technical school in
Horten
in 1882, Wilse emigrated to the
United States
in 1884. He did not find work in the beginning, but eventually settled in
Seattle
working for the
United States Geological Survey
. He is reported to have acquired his first camera in 1886. He opened a photography store in Seattle in 1897, after having visited Norway, and married Helen Marie Hutchinson.
Wilse's photograph of
Knut Hamsun
in 1914
In 1900, his wife and children moved to Norway, and Wilse himself joined them, opening a photography store in
Christiania
in 1901, after 17 years in the United States.
Work
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edit
]
Wilse traveled extensively in Norway, both on assignment and for his own interest. He brought his 10 kg camera to inaccessible places through rugged terrain, going as far north as
Svalbard
.
"Gausta" (
Gaustatoppen
)
He photographed both natural sceneries and people at work, including the fishing industry in
Lofoten
before the introduction of motorized boats. His photography business was also a commercial success, and he acquired among other things the entire archive of
Axel Lindahl
, who had photographed scenes in Norway in the 1880s and 1890s. His photos also appeared in National Geographic Magazine.
[1]
Family
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]
Anders Beer Wilse ca. 1940
Wilse's son Robert Charles Wilse (10 December 1897 - 11 September 1969) was also a photographer.
Work
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Wilse left behind about 200,000 images. Most of his negatives are now preserved at museums, including
Norsk Folkemuseum
, where more than 100,000 sceneries and ethnological images are held,
Oslo Bymuseum
for images related to the history of Oslo, the
National Library of Norway
for portrait photography, and the
Norwegian Maritime Museum
for maritime photographs.
Scene in Enerhauggata section of Oslo
A collection of his negatives also kept in the
Chusseau-Flaviens
collection at
George Eastman House
. These images are being scanned digitally, and many are available online. In 2014 Wilse's photos were included in "Norges dokumentarv" - the most important documentary heritage of Norway.
Dagens Næringsliv
describes Wilse as Norway's most prominent photographer. He left behind a cultural heritage, the newspaper writes.
[2]
Gallery
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References
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]
- ^
Dagens Næringsliv,
D2, 23 October 2015.
- ^
Dagens Næringsliv, D2, 23 October 2015.
External links
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