George S. Bolster
Photographer, Chronicler, Preserver
George S. Bolster was born in 1913 in Saratoga Springs. At the age of 10 he made his first box camera and used it to photograph children and animals in his neighborhood. His love of history and passion for photography inspired him to save the photographs that became the Bolster Image Collection at Saratoga Springs History Museum.
Bolster opened his first photo studio at his Walton Street home. In 1957 he partnered with Charles Hutchins and moved into his studio at 1 Phila Street. Hutchins had been the business partner of Harry B. Settle, who was famous for taking thousands of images of early-20th-century life. Bolster and Hutchins purchased equipment from the photographer Joe Deuel, who owned equipment and the negatives from many other photographers dating back to the 19th century.
In 1967 George was the sole owner of the studio, after Hutchins’ death. George S. Bolster died in 1989. He willed his vast collection and life’s work to the Historical Society of Saratoga Springs. Today his collection offers more than 325,000 images of the people, places, and sights of Saratoga Springs, NY. His desire to preserve those images has left Saratogians with a treasure to last in perpetuity.
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