Born in Germany but moved to the United States. He worked out of a studio in Bowery, New York City. He started photography in the 1870s, he worked as a portrait photographer but in the 1870s-1880s he began to specialize in creating and marketing photographs of circus sideshow and dime museum performers in new York. His photographs allowed famous "freak" performers to market themselves to their audience. He photographed many famous performers.