Wilhelm Hester

• Name — Wilhelm Hester • Style — Street photography Nature photography • Born — 1872 • Died — 1947 (aged 74–75) • Birthplace — Hamburg, Germany • Place of death — Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Hester was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1872 and moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1893.

• Illustration — Miss Rother, the daughter of the skipper of the 'Dimsdale', got herself photographed by Wilhelm Hester on the West Coast of USA, holding the rudder dressed up as a sailor His photographs mainly recorded ships, crews and maritime activity on Puget Sound and the ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Port Blakely. Hester was able to establish a commercial business selling these photographs, often to the crews of the ships that he photographed. He also took a series of photographs in Chinatown, San Francisco, in the 1890s. In 1898, Hester relocated to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. He had successful mining claims at Anvil Creek and Snow Creek in Alaska, during the Nome gold rush which, in addition to other business ventures, earned him a significant profit. While in Alaska, he photographed early scenes of Nome and the surrounding areas. He returned to the Puget Sound area in 1899 to resume his photographic business there, but appears to have visited Alaska again in 1900. In 1906, he gave up his photography business and became involved in real estate.

He died in Seattle in 1947.