Fred Kruger

Fred Kruger
View of Mount Pleasant, as seen from School of Mines, Ballarat by Fred Kruger (c. 1866)
Born	Johan Friedrich Carl Kruger 18 April 1831 Berlin, Germany
Died	15 February 1888
Residence	Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Fred Kruger (b. Johan Friedrich Carl Kruger 18 April 1831, d. 15 February 1888) was a German-born photographer noted for his early photography of landscape and indigenous peoples in Victoria, Australia.

Kruger was born of a working-class family on 18 April 1831 at 16 Steingassestrasse, Berlin, Germany, and was baptised Johān Friedrich Carl Krüger. He traded as an upholsterer and in 1858 married Auguste Wilhelmine Elisabeth Bauman at Friedrichwerder Church in Berlin. His wife and son migrated to Victoria, Australia, arriving 23 April 1863, as he is thought to have made the journey earlier to partner in the furniture business established his brother Bernard at Rutherglen in 1854. Kruger subsequently became the sole owner of the furniture business, but then had it sold before 1866 when he set up as cabinetmaker in Taradale.

Later in 1866, Kruger first registered his photography business at 133 Cardigan Street, Carlton, Melbourne, before moving it in August 1867 to High Street, Prahran, Melbourne, continuing there until 1871, then relocating in Preston to High Street and again to Regent Street in that suburb.

During this period, Kruger was achieving international recognition for his landscape photography, including the award of medals from both the 1872 Vienna Exhibition and the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. He became the first photographer to take group photos of the first Aboriginal cricket team in 1866, which became one of his most recognised images, and was subsequently commissioned in 1877 by the Aboriginal Protection Board to create a collection of work including portraits of the Aborigines at the Coranderrk Aboriginal Mission Station, which was made public in 1883. Kruger won more awards; a gold medal for the best collection of landscape views and another, for the best panoramic view of Geelong, at the Geelong Industrial and Juvenile Exhibition in 1879.