Harry G. Olds, Photographer in Sandusky and Argentina

In the novelty picture above, taken in Sandusky at the Bishop & Barker Photographic Studio in the late 1880’s are Harry Olds, Charlie Olds, John Irvine, and another male friend. The initials H.O. can be seen on the fan that Harry holds, on the left side of the image. 

Harry Grant Olds was born in Sandusky on November 3, 1868, to Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Olds. Harry’s brother Charlie was born in 1871. On a passport application issued to Harry G. Olds in 1921 indicated that his father had died by 1921, and his mother Georgia Olds was residing in Detroit, Michigan. After working in Sandusky, Ohio as a photographer, around the turn of the twentieth century, Harry G. Olds moved to Argentina, where he had a successful career as a commercial photographer. In 1998, a book of his photographs was published in Argentina, entitled: Fotografías, 1900-1943 (Buenos Aires : Fundación Antorchas, 1998.) While this book is not found in the ClevNet library consortium, several copies of Fotografías, 1900-1943 are found in academic libraries in the United States and other countries.

Book Description:

Buenos Aires,: Ediciones Fundación Antorchas,, 1998,. 108p. b/w plates (1 color), ports., ind., pict. wrps. 9.5x10  in. The work of Harry Grant Olds,  Ohio-born photographer who relocated to Argentina in 1899 and lived there until his death in 1943. Much of this relatively unknown, commercial photographer's work was marketed in postcard form. His original negatives show that he concentrated on institutional, documentary and journalistic photography, publicity and landscapes in and around Buenos Aires.