Rare photograph bearing the George Lawrence Co. signature depicting a group of European immigrants. About 204 people

Signed lower left. The photo is well preserved although there are signs due to time

Dimensions: 65x39cm with frame 74x48cm

George Raymond Lawrence (February 24, 1868 - December 15, 1938) was a commercial photographer from Northern Illinois. After years of experience building kites and balloons for aerial panoramic photography, Lawrence switched to aviation design in 1910.

The Lawrences are descended from John Philip Lorenz, who emigrated from Germany in 1748. George was born in Ottawa, Illinois on February 24, 1868. He was the eldest of six children of Margaret Othelia Tritley and Michael B. Lawrence. Michael was a LaSalle County farmer and carpenter. Within a few years, the family moved sixty miles east to a Kankakee County farm. George went to eighth grade school in the nearby town of Manteno, Illinois. He also frequented the Roman Catholic church of San Giuseppe in Manteno.

Around 1890, he moved to Chicago and began working at the Abbott Buggy Co. plant in Auburn, Illinois. [1] There, he invented a method of fixing iron hoops on wooden wheels. In 1890, Lawrence married Alice Herenden and they had two children: Raymond W. Lawrence and George Lee Lawrence. In 1891, he opened The Lawrence Portrait Studio on the corner of Yale Avenue and 63rd Street, sharing space and expenses with fellow photographer Irwin W. Powell.

In the mid-1890s, Lawrence perfected the use of "flashlight photography", which was the norm until light bulbs were invented after years. [2] In 1900, he built the largest camera in the world to take a photograph of the Alton Limited train, owned by the Chicago & Alton Railway. The camera weighed 640 kg and used a 4.5 ′ × 8 ′ negative. The photograph was taken for the 1900 Universal Exposition (Paris Exposition of 1900) in Paris, France, and won "The World Grand Prix". He has also made innovations in areas of aerial photography such as hot air ballooning and camera kites.