NPG was a new photo publishing company, founded with a goal of achieving an actual worldwide network of offices, rather than just pretending as some other stereoview publishers claimed to have. In 1894, Arthur Schwartz (1862-1944) founded the Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, the New Photographic Company. The company was founded in Berlin-Schöneberg. The company moved to a larger factory in Berlin-Steglitz in 1904. By 1910, there were offices in London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Brussels and Milan. NPG had a true worldwide market for selling photographs, both post cards and stereoviews. They advertised that kilometer-long rolls of photographic paper were used, and their factories could crank out 40,000 images a day. All their images photographs on photo paper using a silver bromide printing process that gave their images a bright and reflective appearance. Most of their stereoviews are printed on heavy photo paper, although they did sell a higher quality stereoview mounted on card stock like Underwood and Keystone. NPG had a monopoly on images of the Kaiser and his family. The company was known for post cards of German Naval ships and scantily clad womern. NPG photos are typically are very well exposed and in focus. NPG also pioneered an early color photo process. Due to their mass-produced nature, they did not push the limits of photography as an artform, although their business model was very robust.
In August 1914 the outbreak of the war ended this publishing giant growth as their markets for selling images was reduced to Germany and Austria. After the end of the war, NPG was unable to rebuild its international network, and the company went out of business in 1921, although the trademark logo and post card department was acquired by E. A. Schwerdtfeger and relocated to Dresden. With the outbreak of another war, NPG closed in 1939.
[Text provided by Ralph Reiley, 10 April 2020]
Stereographs project
Business locations
Berlin, Germany
*[NPG] Major late pub. with offices in London (The Rotary Photographic Co.), New York, Paris, Wien (Photobrom), Brussels and Milan. Broad & generally fine geog. coverage; all major cont. countries, few of USA seen. Views printed on thick photopaper; originally #'d within series of various quantities, highest series # known is 522, 02-08; later, new views were added with #'s up to the 25400's, 19; title often in the local language of the view (Russian, French, Italian, Dutch); pub. a West-European tour, 13, of 200 views with title and comments in Russian only; used trademark "Universal Stereoscop Comp.", 13 in Hamburg. Prob. local agent for Griffith & Griffith (USA) in Hamburg.
T.K. Treadwell & William C. Darrah (Compiled by), Wolfgang, Sell (Updated by), 11/28/2003, Photographers of the World (Non-USA), (National Stereoscopic Association) |
| Credit: National Stereoscopic Association with corrections and additions by Alan Griffiths and others. |
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