Robert Kates Bonine (1862 – 1923)

Robert Bonine came from Altoona, Pennsylvania. He was a noted photographer with ten years’ experience when he first worked for Edison in 1898.¹⁾ Bonine was the Thomas Edison Co. cinematographer who prepared “kinetoscopic views” of the Klondike for the Klondike Exposition Co. in August 1899. Bonine also took lantern slides and standard 35 mm film. He and Thomas Crahan, the producer, took pictures of the claims at Nos. 20 and 22 Above Discovery on Hunker Creek, Judge Dugas' claim on Dominion Creek, Dr. Falkner's claim on Gold Hill, and No. 2 Above Discovery on Bonanza Creek, owned by Alex McDonald.²⁾ Bonine and Crahan also took photos of the railway and construction between the summit and Lake Bennett.³⁾ Crahan was a Klondike entrepreneur who wanted the film as a Klondike promotion at the Paris Exposition. When they returned in October 1899, they found that due to faulty registration the film was unusable. Both Edison and the Klondike Exposition Company lost money. Bonine went to work for Biograph; filming for them in Japan and China in 1901 and then becoming their chief cameraman until 1903. He also travelled to England in 1902 to film the royal coronation. He joined Edison again in 1905 and specialized in travel films including the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake and the construction of the Panama Canal. He took photographs for himself and gave illustrated lectures on his travels. He left Edison in 1907, did a world photographic tour and then settled in Hawaii when he continued to make films and take photos.⁴⁾