Minna Keene


Minna Keene, née Bergman, was a German-born, self-taught Canadian pictorial portrait photographer, considered "hugely successful".
Keene was born in Arolsen, Germany, in 1861. She lived in Britain, South Africa, and Canada. She married Caleb Keene. She died in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in 1943.
Keene was an early female member of the Linked Ring, a photographic society created to show that photography was just as much an art as it was a science, and to propel photography further into the fine art world. She was also a member of the London Salon of Photography and the first woman to be admitted as a fellow to the Royal Photographic Society.

Biography

Born in Germany, Minna Bergmann married Caleb Keene in Chelsea, London, in 1887. Caleb was a "decorator's apprentice" and brother of the landscape painter cum "photographic artist" Elmer Ezra Keene. Minna’s first mention in the photographic literature occurs in the late 1890s, when she is found submitting work to competitions in the art journal The Studio and to a selection of regional photographic societies, including the Chelmsford Camera Club and Southsea Exhibition. After immigrating to Canada in about 1913, Keene was commissioned by the CPR to photograph the Rockies. In 1920, she opened a studio in Toronto, relocating to Oakville in 1922.
Despite innovating in and enriching photography, female photographers were not taken as seriously as their male counterparts. Keene won numerous prizes and established studios in South Africa and Canada; yet when she was featured in an article in Maclean's magazine in 1926, she was described as "a charming hostess" and a "home lover". Her daughter Violet Keene was also a photographer.

Awards