Joseph Knaffl

Early life and education

Knaffl was born in Wartburg, Tennessee, in 1861, the son of Austrian-born physician, Rudolph Knaffl, and his wife, Rosalie. He operated Knaffl and Brother until his death in 1938. One such Knaffl photograph would later appear as an ironic joke on the cover of an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson.

Knaffl's best-known photograph, "Knaffl's Madonna" (originally entitled "Madonna and Child"), was exhibited at the Photographers' Association of America convention at Celoron, New York, and was the subject of a Brush and Pencil article written that year by sculptor Lorado Taft. Knaffl and Brother often placed first, second or third place in the Southern Division of contests held by the Photographers' Association of America, their primary competitors being fellow Knoxville photographer Frank McCrary (a partner of oil portraitist Lloyd Branson) and the New Orleans–based Moses and Son studio. In 1904, the Knaffl photograph, "The Prophets," won a gold medal at the St. Louis World's Fair.

Technique A description accompanying a Knaffl photograph in the 1909 Complete Self-instructing Library of Practical Photography gives some insight into the Knaffls' production process. The photograph was described as having been made in a by "operating-room," using a "single-slant" light style diffused with white curtains, and a Bausch & Lomb lens. The photograph was recorded on a regular plate "developed in Pyro with no after manipulation."

Legacy Knaffl's son, also named Samuel, joined Knaffl and Brother in 1924, and assumed control of the business after his father's death. It finally closed in 1987. A grandson of Knaffl, Edward Hurst, Jr., was a noted portrait painter in the 1960s and 1970s.

Family life Knaffl was married to Lula May Atkin, the daughter of Knoxville hotel and real estate magnate, Samuel T. Atkin.

Gallery