Louis Pedrotti
Louis Pedrotti
1863-1932
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- Williams Buildings
Louis Pedrotti was born in England in 1863. He was married to Annie Pedrotti (1880-1936). He was a photographer living in Bulawayo in the Williams Buildings.
In 1902 his photos appeared in Ancient Monuments of Rhodesia. He also took a number of photos from the funeral of Cecil J Rhodes of which twelve plates appeared in The Late Right Honourable Cecil John Rhodes: A Chronicle of the Funeral Ceremonies from Muizenberg to the Matopos (Cape Times, 1905) and also The Graphic (1902). Further photos appeared in publications by John Muir, naturalist and champion of preserving the wilderness, around 1904.
In 1905 his photographs of Victoria Falls were featured in the Royal Geographical Society of London’s The Physical History of the Victoria Falls. Nine photographs were on display at the Society’s office in London between January-June 1905, presented by A J C Molyneux, a geologist with the British South Africa Company that visited Rhodesia between 1894-1900.
In the same year the photos also appear in the National Geographic. Philpott & Collins, either as sellers or publishers, a selection of postcards featuring these images. He also self-published his own albums. In 1914 his photos were published in Guide to Rhodesia: For the Use of Tourists & Settlers.
He died 18 September 1932 of liver cancer, his wife dying of breast cancer in 25 February 1936.
Postcards
References
- Geographical Journal, Vol 18, 1901
- Geographical Journal, Vol 15, 1905
- National Geographic, No.16, 1905
