Frank Wolfe
Frank Wolfe’s photographs of the Klondike date from 1898 to at least 1915. He was well established as a photographer in Dawson by 1905 when he was reported to be ‘working the creeks as usual.’1) Wolfe had a studio at the south end of Dawson.
Wolfe used an 8“ x 10” camera and printed his contact prints using a distinctive black mask at the bottom of the photo that described the location, the date and the negative number. His subject matter was mostly mining views and community life in the Klondike goldfields. It might be possible, by using his dates and negative number sequences to follow him on photographic journeys through the creeks in different years. There is a collection of 100 original prints at the Dawson City Museum as well as hundreds of reproductions. They are important documentary images as well as being technically excellent.