Charles Eisenmann

• Illustration — Photo of P. T. Barnum by Charles Eisenmann • Illustration — Photo of girl dressed in circus garb In the late 1880s, A new phenomenon appeared with Victorian society's fascination and sympathy for people who appeared to have genetic abnormalities. There was much publicity, for example, over Princess Alexandra's attention to Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man." Eisenmann saw the golden opportunity in this fascination, and photographed circus people dressed as Victorian society, and conversely Victorian society with circus props. In New York city circus people were quite well received, as evidenced by the proliferation of dime museums and the PT Barnum circus located in New York. One of Eisenmann's subjects, Charles Stratton (Major Tom Thumb) was quite well known, and his wedding was quite the affair. "The couple’s elaborate wedding took place in Grace Episcopal Church in New York City. The Astors and the Vanderbilts were said to have attended as Barnum sold tickets for $75." Other prestigious clients included Mark Twain, and Annie Oakley. In some ways Eisenmann can be considered a kind of Annie Leibovitz of the Victorian Bowery district. His career suffered a downturn with the introduction of Gelatin silver process photography which made photographs more inexpensive and available for mass consumption. Also, Vaudeville overtook circuses in popularity at this time as well. In 1898 Eisenmann closed his studio and was succeeded by Frank Wendt. Frank was a sort of intern of his. For a few years, he sold photographic equipment and took conventional portraits in Plainfield, New Jersey but by 1907 he had disappeared from the public record, some believing he went to Germany. This was the second time he went off the radar, the first time being when his first wife died. At that time he was believed to have gone to Asia. Eventually, in the early 1900s, he resurfaced as the head of the photography department for DuPont taking pictures of employees. He died in 1927. A collection of his photographs was auctioned off through Sotheby's in 1991, with an estimated price of between $15,000 and $25,000 for the large collection.