I. Benjamin was from Cincinnati at the time this portfolio was published. The photograph, one of his “character” studies, depicts an older gentleman cupping his ear in an act showing he is hard of hearing.

Isaac Benjamin: 1860-1928

I. BENJAMIN, PHOTOGRAPHER

Mr. I. Benjamin, the well-known photographer of Cincinnati, sailed for Europe, July 19, on the steamer “La Bretagne.” His purpose is to establish a branch studio at Paris. Previous to his departure, a party of his fellow photographers visited him in Cincinnati to wish him bon voyage. The members of the party were as follows: S. L. Stein, Milwaukee, Wis.; J. C. Strauss, St. Louis, Mo.; “Papa ” Cramer, St. Louis, Mo., Frank Rinehart, Omaha, Neb.; Frank Scott Clark, Detroit, Mich.; George Edmondson, Cleveland, Ohio; Henrv Havelock Pierce, Boston, Mass.; and Newport, R. I.; S. F. Hall, Buffalo, N. Y.; Lewis Godlove, St. Louis, Mo.; and Anthony Bill, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Benjamin has been active professionally in Cincinnati for nineteen years, during which time he has been the sole proprietor of his establishment and has won a reputation for himself in picturemaking that places him in the ranks of the best photographers in this country. He studied art at the Cincinnati Art Academy from 1883 to 1888 and was the founder of the Art Students’ League of Cincinnati, serving as its president for seven years. He twice received the Grand Prize of the Photographer’s Association of Ohio, and was awarded a silver medal for portraiture at the International Exhibition of the American Institute of New York in 1896. He was medalled by the Michigan Photographers’ Association and also by the P. A. of A. He received a gold medal for miniatures at the Milwaukee Convention; also Salon honors at Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Ohio and a silver medal from the International Exhibition at Turin, Italy.

Fresh from his triumphs in his own home, he goes to Paris with the best wishes of friends and admirers, whose name is legion in this country. There, in the French capital, he will be sure to repeat his success and make a name for himself.  (Source: August, 1906 issue of Photo-Era: p. 133)

Benjamin, Isaac (1860-1928). Photographer active in Cincinnati (Hamilton) during the 1890s. He had studied drawing at the Art Academy for three years in the mid-1880’s, and from the outset his photographic work was of a distinctly “artistic” nature. In addition to standard commercial portraiture, he made a specialty of “character studies,” which received prizes at a number of turn-of-the-century photographic salons in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere. A friend of Henry Farny and Joseph H. Sharp, he was one of the founds, in 1890, of the Cincinnati Art Club. (sources then listed: Information courtesy Colleen McAndrews, Cincinnati Art Museum Library)  (Source: Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: A Biographical Dictionary pp. 75-76: © 2000 The Kent State University Press)