Canada. “Behind the Name”. Leonard Frank (1870-1941) renowned BC photographer, postcard producer. 1939 incoming cover to Frank, written up on page
Lot 93 in our auction Saturday 11th April 2026
LEONARD FRANK
[3/7/1870–23/2/1944]
Leonard was born to a German Jewish family at Berne, Wesermarsch, a small town in northwestern Germany. His family were religious Jews. His father, Louis Frank, operated a photographic studio in Berne.
In 1892, Leonard emigrated to San Francisco, where he remained for two years. Hearing of good mining prospects up north, he relocated to Victoria. He first found employment with Simon Leiser & Co., a merchandising firm. By 1896, he was sent as a clerk to the company’s general store in Wellington, not far from Nanaimo. After two years, he moved to Alberni, where he owned a general store. In 1898, he was joined by his brother younger, Bernard. Whenever possible, the two of them prospected for copper deposits on the west side of the Alberni canal, yet it wasn’t until 1916 that a producing mine was established in the area.
Legend has it that sometime before 1900, Leonard won a primitive box camera in a raffle at an Alberni mining camp. Having found buyers for some of his images, he decided on photography as a career. His pictures supplemented his income from guiding hunting, exploration, and tourist parties.
Beginning about 1907 Frank operated a photographic studio next to the Alberni Pioneer News building, where he sometimes found work as a reporter.
Over the next few years, Leonard traveled extensively and ultimately moved to Vancouver in 1917 where he opened a studio with Bernard as his bookkeeper. He died unexpectedly in 1944.
