Camera Workers, 1858-1950

The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

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Frank, Leonard Juda[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Male 1870 - 1944  (73 years)


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  • Name Frank, Leonard Juda 
    Born 3 Jul 1870  Berne, Oldenburg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Business Address/Year 1898?-1916  Alberni, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Business Address/Year 1917-1944  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Died 23 Feb 1944  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Association Commercial Photo Company (Relationship: Proprietor; Co-proprietor) 
    Association Frank, Bernard (Relationship: Brother) 
    Association Leonard Frank Photos (Relationship: Proprietor) 
    Person ID I1303  Camera Workers | F, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 7 Feb 2021 

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Like many Europeans immigrants, he was lured to North American by tales of easy money. Frank left his hometown in 1892 for San Francisco and moved to Victoria two years later. He finally settled in Alberni with his younger brother Bernard who joined him in 1898. Both men took out their Canadian naturalization papers, Leonard in 1897 and Bernard in 1899. They worked some mineral claims together on Vancouver Island and it probably around 1898 that Leonard also started his photographic career. His father had operated a studio in Berne, Germany.
      Likely as a result of anti-German sentiment during World War One, the Frank brothers relocated to Vancouver between 1916 and 1917. Leonard established a brief partnership with Orville J. Rognon between 1918 and 1919 as the Commercial Photo Company. Frank continued to operate under that name until about 1926-1927 when he started using his own name for the business.
      Leonard Frank Photos established an enviable reputation as industrial and commercial photographers and Leonard Frank continued photographing almost until he died. Otto Landauer acquired Leonard Frank Photos in 1946 which he operated under that name until 1980. Leonard and Bernard Frank, who never married, are buried in the Jewish Schara Tzedeck Cemetery near Vancouver.
      For a complete review of Leonard Frank's career, see Cyril E. Leonoff's book An Enterprising Life (1990). A documentary film about Frank's life, Copyright, Leonard Frank (1999), provides additional information.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: Print surface may be captioned "Photo by Leonard Frank, Alberni, B.C."

  • Sources 
    1. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA.
      Prints

    2. [S135] COLLECTION: BVAJH.
      Leonard Frank Photos studio fonds; URL (accessed 11 Aug 2018): https://archives.jewishmuseum.ca/leonard-frank-photo-studio-fonds

    3. [S134] COLLECTION: BVA.
      Negatives and prints

    4. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), Ref. NW 324.1 B862., 1913, 1916.
      Alberni

    5. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), Ref. NW 324.1 B862., 1924, 1928.
      Vancouver

    6. [S335] Leonoff (1990), Cyril E. Leonoff, (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1990).

    7. [S336] Leonoff (1997), Cyril E. Leonoff, (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1997).

    8. [S490] White Pine Pictures (1999), (Ontario: White Pine Pictures, 1999).

    9. [S303] Grant (2002), Peter Grant, (Victoria, B.C.: TouchWood Editions, 2002).

    10. [S351] This Vancouver: The Leonard Frank Collection (Web site), Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, (Vancouver: Vancouver Public Library).