A German In Chinatown

When I was doing the blog on Isadora Duncan, I came across a photographer named Arnold Genthe, who took one or two photos of Duncan's adopted artistic daughter, Anna Duncan and Irma Duncan. They were really lovely, capturing the Duncan girls in the midst of dancing. But what I found out about Genthe, is that he was more well known for his photos of San Francisco's Chinatown, where he was often seen capturing the Chinese community in their everyday lives. Born in Berlin in 1869, he completed a doctorate in philosophy before emigrating to San Francisco in 1895 to work as a tutor. He took up photography and eventually setting up his portrait studio in 1890s. In his career, he took about 200 photos of Chinatown during that era, with his most famous picture being the "Looking Down Sacremento Street, 18 April 1906" which vividly captured the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Genthe "Edna St. Vincent Millay", 1920s

Genthe's most famous photo "Looking Down Sacremento Street, 18 April 1906"

Genthe "Strabenhandler of Chinatown"

Genthe "Street of Gamblers (Ross Alley)"

Genthe "The Toy Vendor"

Genthe "The Vegetable Peddlers"

Genthe "The Balloon Merchant"

Genthe "Children of High Class"

All images sourced from Google Images