While there are early women artisan photographers who took photos in Alaska and maybe even at the Arctic Circle, we’re not going to be talking about them this post.
Nope, today we are going to meet an Early PICT from Bridgeport, CT, a woman named Irene F. Michniewicz Mensik. She was a photographer from 1927-1931, working at first for her father, the photographer Benedict S. Michniewicz, and then working for herself when she took over his studio after he retired in 1930.
It’s in 1930 that we’ll visit Irene in the Arctic.
But before we get to 1930, let me first take you back in time, to before 1906 when Irene was even born. Back in 1903 her father opened his Michniewicz photographic studio in Bridgeport, and it was a popular and successful studio from the get-go.
Fast forward a few years, and in November 1910 we find a a story in the newspaper about an unfortunate incident at what the article calls the “Arctic [photo] Studio” at 491 Arctic Street in Bridgeport. That’s the address of Benedict S. Michniewicz’s photo studio. The article explains that a wedding party arrived at the second-floor photo studio one November day to get their pictures taken. However, some flowers that were intended to be in the photos were acccidentally left in the taxi that had brought the wedding party to the studio. So, the best man headed back out to retrieve the missing blooms.
Unfortunately, though, the best man went through a doorway that led to what the article calls an “unused stairwell;” he then plummeted down to the ground floor. Thankfully he survived, although he wound up in the hospital recovering from a concussion.
Anyway, as I mentioned Irene Michniewicz was born in 1906, and therefore not old enough to have been involved with her father’s studio that day in 1910. However, I found it striking that this 1910 article refers to the Michniewicz studio as “the Arctic Studio,” instead of using the real name of the studio, which is Michniewicz. Indeed, in the 27 years Benedict was running his studio at 491 Arctic Street, the studio was always called “Michniewicz”. We can see the name of this studio in the photographer’s studio stamp:
My speculation is that the studio’s name, Michniewicz, was perhaps too difficult for people to spell, pronounce or remember, which led to people at the time to just refer to it as the “Arctic Studio,” since it was on Arctic Street. But that’s just my guess, perhaps since I myself find it hard to spell and pronounce “Michniewicz”.
Anyway, fast forward to 1930. By this time Irene is now in her 20s and has been working at the studio for a few years. When Benedict retires in 1930, Irene takes over the business. When she does, she renames the studio, calling it officially the “Arctic” studio. Again, perhaps this change in name is triggered by the fact that “Arctic studio” was the name people called it all along, even though it was officially (prior to 1930) called the “Michniewicz” studio.
(I should also note that Irene gets married that same year. The man she marries, Charles Mensik, was not a photographer before their marriage. However, she must teach him the photography business, since we see that it’s Mr. and Mrs. Mensik running the newly-christened “Arctic Studio” together in 1930 Bridgeport directory below. )
Anyway, finding the 1910 article referring to the Michniewicz studio as the “Arctic Studio” did make me wonder if there was a method to Irene’s seeming “madness” of rebranding a successful studio business that had already been around almost 30 years. I mean, we typically see early woman photographrs not rebranding a successful businesss even after they get married and change their names. (CF. Rosa Vreeland, for example.) So one wonders if re-branding like this was a shrewd business decision.
But, as fate would have it, the new Arctic Studio doesn’t last long for other reasons. Just over a year after her wedding (in June 1930) Irene dies in childbirth in August 1931. The Arctic Studio closes, and Irene’s widower, Charles Mensik, is never a photographer again.
In any case, below is a photo that Chris and I found taken at the studio at 491 Arctic Street studio when the studio was still called the Michniewicz studio. The photo is of a wedding couple, but it isn’t labelled with their names or even the year. So I think it is unlikely to be of the bridal couple from the ill-fate photo shoot in 1910 …. nor is it likely to be a photo of Irene Michniewicz and her husband Charles Mensik in their wedding finery, either.
But then again … come to think of it, I couldn’t find photos of either couple in the newspapers, so i don’t know what those couples looked like.
So … I guess you never know who that couple in the photo might be, eh? 😉
