Archive of 100 Photographs from New York Photographer Henry Reister, advertising Remington Typewriters, the New York Telephone Directory, Other Various Products, and depicting the People and Architecture of the New York Region c. 1915-1930

New York and Environs, 1930. Excellent. We find scant information on Henry Reister, a professional photographer operating throughout the New York metropolitan region in the early part of the century. His studio moved several times, from the Bronx to Bridgewater, New Jersey, then to Woodlawn, New York. This interesting and varied collection from his estate shows the type of work available to a professional photographer operating in New York during the period - architectural shoots, product photography, events and some portraiture. The opulent wealth of New York's upper classes during the 1920s is on display in Reister's architectural work, which makes up a large portion of this collection. The burgeoning commercial age is also shown in his product photographs, most notably a series of photographs of Remington typewriters, a series of photographs of the newly created New York Telephone Directory, two photographs of automobiles and a series of brightly-lit interior grocery store displays.

Contents as follows:

Seven images advertising typewriters, with five showing a young woman posed with a Remington typewriter; five images of the New York Telephone Directory; five images of brightly lit grocery store interiors, most focusing on elaborate lighting on a dairy display; two images of automobiles, one showing a man in fine dress posed alongside an automobile, the other showing a close-up of a license plate; thirteen varied product images, including proto-modernist images of radiators, an image of the Cory Smoke Telegraph Indicator, three floral still lives and an opulently presented bowl of ice cream; forty-six architectural photographs, including a rather stark series of institutional interiors including lavatories, extravagant gardens, the interiors of a bank on Broadway and high end domestic interiors; six photographs of the Yorkville Social Center Baby Parade of 1916; seven portraits, including one of a worker holding two bolts, several military portraits and an outdoor portrait of a couple in a garden; Eight scenes from Reister's personal life, most relating to an automobile trip made with his wife in 1930.

Overall a strong representation of pre-Depression New York, with many iconic aspects of the city and its environs represented. Despite his low profile, Reister was a proficient professional photographer, and the images remain quite attractive and in generally very good to fine condition with a few showing small tears at edges.