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Louis Buhle (1890–1972)
Louis Buhle was Brooklyn Botanic Garden's official photographer from 1915 until 1968. During his remarkable 53-year tenure, he documented every aspect of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, producing more than 11,000 negatives and creating an aesthetically and historically consistent body of work. He recorded changes in the physical plant and events at the Garden, including dedications, groundbreakings, fairs, and educational programs. Like his contemporaries Lewis Wickes Hine and Berenice Abbott, Buhle created an ambitious body of documentary work animated by a singular aesthetic vision. Without sacrificing the documentary edge of his work, he sought to illuminate the beauty of his subjects in every photograph.
Digitization of the Louis Buhle Collection was supported in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Conservation was supported by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Auxiliary.