Creator Record

Metadata

Name

Kollecker, William F.

Dates & places of birth and death

Born: April 15, 1879 Brooklyn, NY
Died: August 12, 1962 Saranac lake, NY

Occupation

Photographer

Notes

William F. Kollecker was a photographer who, with George Baldwin, and William L. Distin, Sr., produced a rich collection of photographs of the area, that is largely preserved in the Adirondack Collection of the Saranac Lake Free Library.

Born April 15, 1878, he was the son of Jacob F. Kollecker. He left a diary of approximately twenty journals, starting from the day in January of 1896 when he left his "Papa" sitting on the steps of their Brooklyn home and took the train to Saranac Lake for health reasons, after having been employed by a Wall Street brokerage firm.

Probably around 1902-03, William Cheesman, at a Lake Placid barbershop, overheard a young man asking the barber about employment opportunities. He approached the young man and talked with him. As it turned out, the young man had photographic experience and Cheesman had a photo studio and darkroom in his store. So William F. Cheesman offered William F. Kollecker a job. Kollecker was still far from well when he began his employ at Cheesman's in Lake Placid. Under the care of Josephine Cheesman, however, he strengthened. By 1904, he was healthy enough and, thanks to his work with Mr. Cheesman, experienced enough to be ready to open his own shop and studio.

The Cheesmans, to whom the aspiring photographer had become as close as a son, loaned Kollecker $200 to get him started in a tiny storefront at 71 Main Street in Saranac Lake and on his way to becoming the most successful and prolific photographer in this village's history.

By 1921, William Cheesman had had a less than profitable experience in the Florida land market. Without Kollecker as a partner, the Cheesmans might not have been able to have purchased the Exchange and opened a shop therein. Through this transaction, Kollecker was able to help his old friends as they had helped him.

The photographer lived upstairs, where he would stay until his death in August, 1962.

Kollecker’s energy seemed limitless. Early photographic processes were tedious, time-consuming, and sometimes dangerous; yet, during Saranac Lake's Winter Carnivals, Kollecker would expose as many as 300 plates and have the prints on sale the next day. Nor was his talent and motivation limited to carnival time. No other photographer captured the face and feeling of Saranac Lake nor portrayed the lives and lifestyles of its citizens with greater accuracy or artistry for a comparable period. The people of Saranac Lake and all lovers of history and photography owe an immeasurable debt to this man.

The Kollecker Kodak and Gift Shop was a wonder to children, especially the display windows where, at Christmas, he set up the first mechanically revolving Christmas tree ever seen in the village. Kollecker loved children and he kept on hand a full series of movies of circus parades and other joys with which to entertain them.