Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn was born in the German Confederation (now Germany) in 1847 to a Jewish family and was raised in the Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland), by his parents, Abraham and Bashe Liebe Mendelssohn, from where he fled to England for political reasons, settling in Newcastle upon Tyne. He trained as a photographer with the firm of W. & D. Downey before establishing his own successful portrait studios in Newcastle and, from 1883, in London. Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn died in England on 24 January 1908.
Photographer Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn was born in the German Confederation (now Germany) in 1847 into a Jewish family. His parents, Abraham and Bashe Liebe Mendelssohn, brought him up in the Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland). He fled to England for political reasons, settling in Newcastle upon Tyne, then home to only around 160 Jewish families. He served under Mr D. Downey at the photographic firm of W. & D. Downey, thought to have been based at their Eldon Square studio, during the late 1860s, before establishing a business of his own. By 1871 he was recorded in the census as a photographer, married with two young children, and sharing a house in Blandford Street with the jeweller Simon Falk and his family. An obituary published in the British Journal Photographic Almanac in 1908 confirmed that political reasons had obliged him to leave Poland and traced his rise from provincial apprentice to fashionable metropolitan portraitist whose reputation, once established in London, 'stood until his death.'
In January 1872 Mendelssohn entered partnership with John Downey, elder brother of his former employers, William and Daniel Downey, forming the firm of Downey & Mendelssohn. The partnership dissolved in December 1873, after which Mendelssohn traded alone as 'H. S. Mendelssohn, Photo Artist'. He worked chiefly in the fashionable cabinet-card and carte-de-visite formats of Victorian studio portraiture and, in October 1874, held an exhibition in Newcastle of portraits made using the carbon printing process, recently developed in the city by Joseph Swan. He combined technical experimentation with the elegant, formal conventions expected of high society portraiture, and progressed from refugee apprentice to sought-after studio proprietor.
Mendelssohn's reputation grew steadily through the 1870s. He opened a further studio in Sunderland in 1881 and, the following year, extended his business to London, establishing premises in South Kensington. His sitters included the celebrated actress Ellen Terry and the American artist James McNeill Whistler, whom he photographed around 1884. In December 1883 Queen Victoria noted in her diary at Osborne House that 'a new photographer, named Mendelssohn' had taken pictures of her grandchildren, Margaret and Arthur of Connaught, an early instance of the royal patronage that followed. He subsequently advertised himself as photographer to the Queen and the royal family. He joined the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in 1884 and was a founder member of the Professional Photographers Association. In 1886 he opened a second London studio, taking Herman E. Mendelssohn into partnership there from 1887. By 1888 he retained only one studio, where his sitters included Prime Minister, William Gladstone and his daughter Mary Drew, the writers Sarah Grand and Mona Caird, the campaigner Annie Besant, and the historian Thomas Hodgkin, a clientele spanning politics, literature and the stage. In 1906 his work was included in the Royal Photographic Society's 51st annual exhibition at the New Gallery, London, alongside a portrait he contributed of the musician Michael Hambourg.
Mendelssohn continued to run his London studio until his death there on 24 January 1908. His works are represented in UK public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, Royal Collection Trust, National Trust Collections and V&A. His photographs are also held internationally, at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Public Library Archive, Eastman Museum and the National Library of New Zealand. The Ben Uri Research Unit welcomes contributions from researchers or family members who may have further biographical information.
Michal Mel