Benedicte Wrensted

Image of Benedicte Wrensted

Born: February 10, 1859, Hjorring, Denmark.
Died: January 19, 1949, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer Artist

Benedicte Marie Wrensted was a notable Danish-American photographer best known for the many photographs she took of the Shoshone native people in Idaho.

Born in Denmark, Benedicte learned photography (one the the few professions considered suitable for women at the time) from her aunt, Charlotte Borgen. She then opened her own studio in Horsens, which she ran until she emigrated to the United States in 1894.

After arriving in America, Benedicte moved to Pocatello, where her brother Peter had settled. Here she acquired a studio in 1895 where she took photographs of the local inhabitants and recorded the growth of the town. Her documentary photographs of the Shoshone and Bannock Native Americans are still considered to be of great anthropological importance. Many of her Native American images are preserved at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Archives.

Resources
Source
Preferred Citation:
Benedicte Wrensted, Idaho's Women of Influence, Digital Initiatives, University of Idaho Library, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwi/women/iwi-15.html
Record Contributor:
Ruth Funabiki
Old IWI Link:
https://journals.lib.uidaho.edu/index.php/IWI/benedicte-wrensted