{{Short description|Norwegian-born photographer (1856–1923)}} {{Infobox person | name = Daniel Nyblin | image = Daniel Nyblin1.jpg | alt = Portrait photograph of Daniel Nyblin | caption = Daniel Nyblin (before 1900) | birth_name = Carl Petter Daniel Dyrendahl Nyblin | birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|06|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Drammen, Norway | death_date = {{Death date and age|1923|07|19|1856|06|30|df=y}} | death_place = Helsinki, Finland | education = Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority photography studio, Christiania | occupation = Photographer, publisher | years_active = 1875–1923 | known_for = Founding Atelier Nyblin; co-founding the Amateur Photography Club in Helsinki | notable_works = ''Finsk konst – Suomen taide'' (1883) | organization = {{ill|Amateur Photography Club in Helsinki|fi|Amatörfotografklubben i Helsingfors}}; Finnish Photographers' Association | spouse = Wera Pautow (1855–1904) | awards = Honorary member, Amateur Photography Club in Helsinki (1911) }} '''Carl Petter Daniel Dyrendahl Nyblin''' (30 June 1856 – 19 July 1923) was a Norwegian-born photographer and one of the most significant pioneers of Finnish photography. He founded ''Atelier Nyblin'' in Helsinki, Finland in 1877, one of the city's leading photographic studios. He played a central role in organising and professionalising photography in Finland – as exhibition organiser, editor, teacher and lecturer. In 1889, he co-founded the {{ill|Amateur Photography Club in Helsinki|fi|Amatörfotografklubben i Helsingfors}}, the oldest still-active photography club in the Nordic countries. He has been called "the father of Finnish photographic art".<ref name="blf">{{BLF}}</ref>
==Biography==
=== Early life and education === Daniel Nyblin was born on 30 June 1856 in Drammen, Norway. He was the son of sculptor Carl Petter Anton Dyrendahl Nyblin (1818–1883) and Petronella Pedersen (1837–1881).<ref name="blf" /> After studying at the photography studio of the Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority in Christiania (Oslo), where he received thorough training in photography as used for cartography and lithographic printing, he undertook study trips to Copenhagen and New York and worked as a photographer in Drammen.<ref name="blf" />
=== Career as photographer === In 1875, he moved to Helsinki, where he worked in the studios of {{ill|Charles Riis|fi}}.<ref name="blf" /> Two years later, he established his own studio, Atelier Nyblin, at {{ill|Fabianinkatu|fi|Fabianinkatu|Fabiansgatan}} 27 in Helsinki. He was assisted by his brothers, photographers Holger Nyblin (1864–1910) and Thorvald Nyblin (1871–1942), as well as his cousin Georg Nyblin. Already in its first year of operation, the studio had nearly a thousand clients.<ref name="kuka">{{Cite web |title=Valokuvaaja Daniel Nyblin |url=https://kukakuvasi.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi/tietuekortti/valokuvaaja/620 |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=Kuka kuvasi |publisher={{ILL|Finnish Museum of Photography|fi|Suomen valokuvataiteen museo}} |language=fi}}</ref><ref name="blf" /> Later, he opened branches in Vyborg, Turku, Pori and Vaasa.<ref name="blf" />
In addition to portraits and landscapes, he created reproductions of paintings and photographed theatrical productions, taking his first stage photographs in 1886.<ref name="blf" /> He collaborated with bookseller {{ill|Gustaf Wilhelm Edlund|sv}} and regularly photographed exhibitions of the {{ill|Finnish Art Society|fi|Suomen Taideyhdistys}}. In 1883, they published the album ''Finsk konst – Suomen taide'', containing photographic art reproductions. During the 1890s, Nyblin assisted the painter Albert Edelfelt by projecting photographed subjects onto canvas at full scale in the ceremonial hall of the University of Helsinki.<ref name="kuka" /><ref name="blf" />
He also sold cameras and other photographic equipment and, after amateur photography became popular in the 1880s, he opened a store expressly for that purpose, decorated with a large number of his own landscape photographs from Finland.<ref name="kuka" /> The retail business was incorporated in 1904 and continued as the Foto-Nyblin chain. Although he relinquished active management of the studio in 1904 following the death of his wife Wera, Atelier Nyblin continues to operate under family ownership as Finland's oldest photographic studio.<ref name="kuka" />
=== Organiser and promoter of photography === In 1889, he was one of the founders of the Amateur Photography Club, where he was a teacher and lecturer.<ref name="blf" /> In 1897, he took the initiative to establish the professional organisation Finlands Fotografers Forbund (Finnish Photographers' Association), but always preferred working with enthusiastic amateurs.<ref name="kuka" />
His interests extended to other aspects of the visual arts as well, including oil painting. He participated in art exhibitions at the Ateneum, where he became acquainted with visual artists whom he also photographed.<ref name="kuka" /> In 1885, he fashioned a memorial to the Finnish War, which was installed in Nykarleby.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}}
In 1903, he was the primary organizer of Finland's first photography exhibition, at the Ateneum of the Finnish National Gallery, which included professionals and amateurs.<ref name="blf" /><ref name="kuka" /> Nyblin regarded exhibitions as crucial for the development and status of photography. He emphasised the photographer's free, artistic expression rather than mere professional craftsmanship, and maintained that photography was not automatically art; rather, the artistry lay with the photographer. At the turn of the century, he was one of the central theorists of Finnish pictorialism and a pioneer of noble print techniques.<ref name="kuka" /><ref name="blf" />
=== Publishing === From 1901 to 1905, he edited the Association's magazine, ''{{ill|Fotografiskt Allehanda|fi}}''.<ref name="blf" /> When it was discontinued, he issued his own ''{{ill|Nyblins magasin – Nyblinin tietolipas|fi|Nyblins magasin – Nyblinin tietolipas|Nyblins Magazine}}'', from 1906 to 1910.<ref name="blf" />
=== Later years === Following the death of his wife Wera in 1904, Nyblin withdrew from active business management and devoted himself to photography, writing and the study of printing techniques. In 1916, he suffered a severe brain haemorrhage, from which he never fully recovered.<ref name="kuka" /><ref name="blf" /> He died in Helsinki on 19 July 1923.
=== Legacy === Nyblin's photographic works are preserved in some twenty Finnish museums and archives, including the Finnish Heritage Agency, the {{ILL|Finnish Museum of Photography|fi|Suomen valokuvataiteen museo}} and the Helsinki City Museum, comprising thousands of portrait, landscape and documentary photographs.<ref name="kuka" />
=== Personal life === Nyblin married Wera Pautow (1855–1904) in 1877.<ref name="blf" />
==Selected photographs== <gallery mode=packed heights=200> File:Jean Sibelius by Daniel Nyblin.tif|Jean Sibelius, composer File:Zacharias Topelius år 1877 SLSA 1270 34 foto 1819.jpg|Zacharias Topelius, historian, poet, professor File:Juhani Aho 1886.jpg|Juhani Aho, writer File:Daniel Nyblin - Portrait photograph of Helene Schjerfbeck.jpg|Helene Schjerfbeck, artist File:Ernst-Lindelof.jpg|Ernst Lindelöf, mathematician and professor File:Lars Sonck.jpg|Lars Sonck, architect Adolf Paul Helsingfors.jpg|Adolf Paul, writer Daniel Nyblin - Architects Lindgren, Saarinen, Östman and Gesellius.jpg|Architects: Armas Lindgren, Eliel Saarinen,<br /> Albertina Östman and Herman Gesellius Aina Mannerheim.jpg|Singer {{ill|Aina Mannerheim|fi}} File:Daniel Nyblin - Portrait photograph of Hilda Flodin.jpg|Hilda Flodin, sculptor File:Elias Lönnrotin hautajaissaattue Sammatin koululta kirkolle 3.4.1884. Arkkua kantavat eri osakuntaien edustajat.jpg|Funeral procession of Elias Lönnrot File:Helsingfors Old Railway Station.jpg|Old Helsinki railway station (1860–1909), 1893 File:South Harbour in Helsinki, Finland (1893) by Daniel Nyblin.jpg|South Harbour, Helsinki File:Hevosraitiovaunu Pohjoisesplanadilla - N57643 (hkm.HKMS000005-00000v6k).jpg|{{ill|North Esplanade|fi|Pohjoisesplanadi}} in Helsinki File:Eteläranta - Helsinki 1893 - G30092 - hkm.HKMS000005-km0000pgc9.jpg|{{ill|Eteläranta|fi}} with Helsinki Cathedral File:Helsingin kaupunginkirjasto, pääkirjasto, Rikhardinkatu 3, vas - N11257 (hkm.HKMS000005-km003acv).jpg|{{ill|Rikhardinkatu library|fi|Richardsgatans bibliotek}}, former Helsinki main library </gallery>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commonscat|Daniel Nyblin}} * [http://www.lahteilla.fi/nyblin/ Daniel Nyblin – Artwork Glass Negative Archives collections] by Hanna-Leena Paloposki @ Lähteillä * [https://www.afk.fi/arkivet/history/ A History of the Amateur Photography Club] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023163745/http://www.afk.fi/arkivet/history/ |date=2014-10-23 }} @ the Club website
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyblin, Daniel}} Category:1856 births Category:1923 deaths Category:19th-century Norwegian photographers Category:19th-century Finnish photographers Category:Norwegian emigrants to Finland Category:Portrait photographers Category:People from Drammen Category:20th-century Finnish photographers Category:20th-century Norwegian photographers