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Edgar A. Cohen

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Edgar A. Cohen
Cohen waiting for a blueprint to tone
Born
Edgar Andrew Cohen

September 23, 1859
Alameda, California, U.S.
Died7 April 1939(1939-04-07) (aged 79)
Alameda, California, U.S.
Resting placeMountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California)
OccupationPhotographer
Years active1898-1925
Known forLandscape photography
Spouses
Jessie G. Booth
​
​
(m. 1886; div. 1902)​
Emily June
​
(m. 1903)​

Edgar A. Cohen (September 23, 1859 – April 7, 1939), also known as E.A. Cohen was an American photographer known for his early landscape photography, which captured landmarks such as Yosemite Falls, Mount Tamalpais, and the California Missions. He gained recognition for documenting the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Cohen's work is distinguished by his technique of hand-colouring of photographs. His collection of 2,140 images, including glass negatives and original prints, is held at the Monterey County Historical Society.

Early life and education

Cohen was born on February 4, 1885, in Alameda, California, to Alfred A. Cohen, a well-known lawyer in the area. He married Jessie Gray Booth on October 21, 1886, in San Francisco.[1] The couple had two children together.[2] They divorced in 1902, during which time Cohen was a commission merchant of San Francisco.[3] He later remarried Emily June.[4]

Career

Yosemite Valley Railroad At The Mine (1907) by Cohen

Cohen began his photography career in 1898, with some of his earliest works featuring his family estate in Fernside, Alameda, California.[5] He traveled extensively throughout the state, capturing images of Mount Tamalpais, Yosemite, and many of the California Missions. He photographed Mission San Juan Capistrano, Mission Santa Barbara, and Yosemite Falls for The New Photo-miniature (1908).[6]

Cohen described Monterey County, “the best place to photograph over any place I know.” Using a 5 inches (130 mm) x 7 inches (180 mm) Pony Premo No. 6 folding field camera, Cohen recorded his views. His collection includes 5 inches (130 mm) x 7 inches (180 mm) glass negatives and original prints, some of which are hand-colored.[7]

Down the Monterey Coast (1912) by Cohen
George Sterling on rocks in Carmel (1908) by Cohen

Cohen frequently visited Carmel-by-the-Sea from 1905 to 1925. In November 1918, Cohen purchased three lots in Carmel on Lincoln Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. His earliest photographs were of the Custom House in Monterey. He worked for the Pacific Improvement Company, and some of his photographs, include the Del Monte Forest, were featured in the August 1910 issue of Del Monte Weekly. Cohen became friends with fellow photographer Louis S. Slevin, and on February 8, 1906, they photographed Point Lobos from a hill above Monastery Beach. A week later, they went to Mission San Antonio to photographed the mission. On March 17, 1910, Cohen captured an image of Slevin under a "triangle of oaks" on Camino Real in Carmel. Cohen photographed several Bohemian artists, including George and Carrie Sterling, the MacGowan sisters, Mary Austin's "wick-i-up," and Fred Bechdolt. Many of his photos were made into postcards.[8]

Cohen exhibited his work at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco in November 1905 and with Paul Elder & Co. in San Francisco in 1907.[9][10]

Cohen authored several articles featuring his photographs. In his 1909 article About Carmel for The American Annual of Photography, he mentions having been a photographer for six years and reveals that his favorite place for taking pictures was Carmel-by-the-Sea. The article showcases images of the Carmel Dunes, Horseshoe Cove, Sunset from Point Lobos, Arch Rock from Pebble Beach, and the wind blown oaks.[11]

He wrote two articles for The American Annual of Photography. In The New Scenic Route to Yosemite (1908), Cohen discusses and illustrates various attractions, including Yosemite Valley Railroad, El Portal, and Bridalveil Fall, among others.[12] In Coloring Photographs (1912), Cohen discusses his twelve years of experience in selling photographs, noting that the demand for color photographs has surged only in the past couple of years. He mentions that color photographs fetch three and a half times more than black-and-white ones. He also shares his techniques for hand-coloring photographs.[13] His work at Yosemite earned him the distinction of being the official photographer for the Yosemite Valley Railroad.[14]

Cohen contributed to Popular Photography with the 1914 article Some Difficulties and Remedies, which discusses techniques for achieving black-and-white results.[15] His photography was featured in the National Geographic Magazine in 1925.[16]

San Francisco earthquake

Grace Cathedral after the San Francisco earthquake, 1906, by Cohen

In 1906, Cohen was in San Francisco, capturing the devastation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He documented the city's ruins in a series of photographs and wrote an accompanying article titled With a Camera in San Francisco, which was published in Camera Craft magazine. In this article, Cohen laments the poor quality of most ruin and fire photographs, attributing it to the high demand for images that pressured both professionals and amateurs to produce prints quickly. He quotes a fellow commercial photographer, noting that “anything showing ruins, "went."[17] The San Francisco Call reviewed the article as a "beautifully illustrated" piece, praising its frontispiece—a color depiction showcasing the doorway of the Sloss home.[18]

In the book Framing Spaces in Motion, Susanne Leikam discusses Cohen and his article With a Camera in San Francisco, emphasizing the public's fascination with visual representations of disaster following the San Francisco earthquake.[19]

Death and legacy

Cohen died on April 7, 1939 in Alameda, California.[4] His legacy endures through a collection of over 2,140 images, comprising 4 inches (100 mm) x 5 inches (130 mm) and 5 inches (130 mm) x 7 inches (180 mm) glass negatives, as well as original prints, held at the Monterey County Historical Society in Salinas, California.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The City Weddings. Cohen-Booth". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 28, 1886. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  2. ^ "Couple Are Well Known In Society Of Encinal City". Oakland Enquirer. Oakland, California. October 23, 1902. p. 2. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  3. ^ "Alameda Society Couple Divorced". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. October 22, 1902. p. 3. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Final Rites Held For Edgar Cohen". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. April 10, 1939. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Dennis Evanosky (July 28, 2023). "A.A. Cohen's Fernside Estate". Alameda Post. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  6. ^ "The New Photo-miniature". Tennant and Ward. 8 (85–90). University of Michigan. 1908. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "Monterey County Historical Society". Monterey County Historical Society. Salinas, California. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  8. ^ Ronna Zinn Elliott. "Contagion of early Carmel was captured on glass". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  9. ^ "The Illustrations For the Lecture Nine Views Are Secured For The Purpose From E. A. Cohen". Alameda Daily Argus. Alameda, California. November 23, 1905. p. 4. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  10. ^ "Artistic Work With The Camera". The Morning Press. Santa Barbara, California. March 27, 1907. p. 8. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  11. ^ "About Carmel". American Photography Book Department. University of California: Tennant and Ward. 1909. p. 172-180. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "The New Scenic Route to Yosemite". The American annual of photography. New York: Tennant and Ward. 1908. pp. 242–251. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "Coloring Photographs". The American Annual of Photography. New York: Tennant and Ward. 1912. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  14. ^ "Brief Items Of Local Interest". Merced County Sun. Merced, California. September 20, 1907. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  15. ^ "Some Difficulties and Remedies". Popular Photography. Vol. 2. American Photographic Publishing Company. 1914. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "Trilers Of The Sky". National Geographic August 1925. New York: National Geographic. August 1, 1925. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "Camera Craft". Camera Craft. 12 (5). University of California: 183. June 1906. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  18. ^ "Notes Gleaned from Literary World". The San Francisco Call and Post. San Francisco, California. July 22, 1906. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Leikam, Susanne (2016). "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire". Framing Spaces in Motion (PDF). UC Santa Barbara: Journal of Transnational American Studies. pp. 215, 218, 220, 252, 254, 255, 290, 317, 319. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "California Views: The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection". Monterey County Historical Society. Salinas, California. Retrieved June 4, 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edgar A. Cohen.


Category:1859 births Category:1939 deaths Category:Painters from California Category:Artists from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century American painters Category:People from Chicago, Illinois

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