Benedicte Wrensted (tap to read)

Benedicte Wrensted was a photographer when female photographers were rare. She had a studio in Pocatello from 1895 to 1912. Her interest in taking pictures of the residents of the nearby Fort Hall Indian Reservation went largely unremarked in her time. Those she took pictures of treasured them and took them home to display.
 
It wasn’t until 1984 that her work began to come to light when anthropologist Joanna Coan Scherer discovered a collection of negatives at the National Archives labled,
“Portraits of Indians from Sotheastern Idaho Resevations, 1897.” In Scherer’s opinion the portraits were remarkable for their compelling depiction of the humanity of the photographers subjects. Later, Scherer connected the negatives to Wrensted through a collection of photographs housed at the Bannock County Historical Society.
 
You can learn more about Wrensted through the website Benedicte Wrenstead: An Idaho Photographer in Focus. She was also feature, along with photographer Jane Gay, in the Idaho Public Television program Out of the Shadows.

A Wrensted photo of a Shoshone girl circa 1897.

Left to right: Sonnip or Pohaipe family member, James Edmo, and Jack Edmo. Taken about 1901 by Benedicte Wrensted.

These are before and after photos of Pat Tyhee taken by Wrensted. The before shot shows him in native clothing. The after shows Tyhee with a new suit of clothes and a haircut.

Portrait by Benedicte Wrensted of Pohene and Frank George, Lemhi Shoshone and Northern Shoshone (ca. 1897)

Benedicte Wrensted (1859-1949), a native of Denmark, arrived in the United States in 1894. She was a professional photographer in Pocatello, Idaho from 1895 to 1912.