Bachrach Studios

Bachrach Studios was founded in Baltimore by David Bachrach, Jr. (1845-1921), and is believed to be the oldest continuously operating photography studio in the United States. Bachrach took the only confirmed photograph of President Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address in 1863.

While David Bachrach, Jr. was the founder of the firm, it is the name of Louis Fabian Bachrach (1881-1963) that is attached to three generations. Louis Fabian Bachrach, Jr. (1917-2010), known as Fabian, was most associated with his image of then-Senator John F. Kennedy. This iconic likeness became his official presidential photograph. Louis Fabian Bachrach III left the corporate firm to set up his own studio bearing his grandfather’s name.

Bachrach Studios became the photography studio for countless dignitaries and celebrities including Richard M. Nixon, Indira Gandhi, and Muhammad Ali.

The images included in the Portrait Collection of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, based on background composition, can be attributed to Vic Penna from Bachrach’s Philadelphia office. Bachrach Studios also operates out of Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York.