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Charles J. Kleingrothe

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C.J. Kleingrothe
Born
Carl Josef Kleingrothe (or Klein-Grothe)

(1864-09-24)24 September 1864
Krefeld, Kingdom of Prussia
Died25 February 1942(1942-02-25) (aged 77)
Frankfurt, German Reich
Known forPhotographs in the Dutch East Indies

Charles J. Kleingrothe (24 September 1864, Krefeld - 25 February 1942, Frankfurt), known professionally as C. J. Kleingrothe,[1][2] was a German photographer who spent nearly 30 years as a photographer in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia),[2] as well as in neighbouring British Malaya.

Biography

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Kleingrothe was hired by Singapore-based German photographer Gustav Richard Lambert in 1888. They went to Medan on the island of Sumatra, where Kleingrothe met and worked alongside Swedish photographer H. Stafhell. The pair split off from Lambert & Co. and founded their own studio, Stafhell & Kleingrothe, in 1889.[3][4][5][2] Stafhell departed for Singapore in 1897/1898 and Kleingrothe continued the business under the name Kleingrothe Atelier.[2][3][5]

Kleingrothe was able to document government parties, the laying of a major railroad line, and the day-to-day life of locals. He captured the production of tobacco, coffee, tea, rubber, and palm oil; landscape and architecture; portraits;[5] and nudes.[6] His photos often captured power dynamics and social class differences, particularly between Europeans and Sumatrans.[2] Many of his photos were commissioned by plantation companies and the colonial empire. When photographing locals, Kleingrothe tended to dress and position them in highly exoticized ways and sold the resulting prints as postcards.[2]

Kleingrothe briefly returned to Europe in the early 1900s and had built up enough of a reputation as a artistic photographer that his albums quickly became valuable. He gifted an album bound in crocodile skin to Queen Wilhelmine of the Netherlands. He returned to Germany permanently in 1915 and retired to Bad Nauheim. He became a landlord and opened a cinema and tobacco business but relocated to Frankfurt with his second wife, Maria, around the time World War II broke out. Kleingrothe died on February 25, 1942, from influenza and atherosclerosis.[2]

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  • Medan mosque
    Medan mosque
  • A Javanese woman, c. 1898
    A Javanese woman, c. 1898
  • Medan mosque interior
    Medan mosque interior
  • Europeans (standing in white suits) speaking to plantation workers (primarily sitting), c. 1905
    Europeans (standing in white suits) speaking to plantation workers (primarily sitting), c. 1905
  • Van Tijen, head administrator of the Deli Company, and his wife
    Van Tijen, head administrator of the Deli Company, and his wife
  • Tjong A Fie, a leader of the Chinese in Medan
    Tjong A Fie, a leader of the Chinese in Medan
  • Klingalese woman, c. 1900
    Klingalese woman, c. 1900
  • Deli Company tobacco
    Deli Company tobacco
  • Governor's house
    Governor's house
  • Elephants moving tree trunks, c. 1905
    Elephants moving tree trunks, c. 1905

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to C.J. Kleingrothe.
  1. ^ "Carl J. Kleingrothe" (in Dutch). Netherlands Institute for Art History. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Minansny, Budiman (2023-09-06). "Carl Josef Kleingrothe: capturing the colonial life of Deli, Sumatra". New Mandala. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  3. ^ a b "Kleingrothe, Carl J." (in Dutch). Fotografen.nl. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07.
  4. ^ Hannavy, John (2013-12-16). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. Routledge. p. 816. ISBN 9781135873264.
  5. ^ a b c Kors, Peter. "C. J. Kleingrothe". Asia Pacific Photography. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  6. ^ Nude Prostitutes in Colonial Sumatra. Saigon Erotiq. 2020. p. 194. ISBN 9798655988996.
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