Aphrodite; Herkales and Venus de Medici; Art Institute

Henry Hamilton Bennett was a renowned American photographer who lived from 1843 to 1908. He is best known for his stunning landscape and documentary photographs of the Wisconsin Dells region, where he lived and worked for most of his life. Bennett was born in Farnham, Canada, but his family moved to Wisconsin when he was a child. He began working as a photographer at the age of 15 and by his early twenties had established himself as one of the region's leading photographers. Bennett's photographs of the Wisconsin Dells, with their dramatic rock formations and rushing waterfalls, helped popularise the area as a tourist destination. He also documented the daily lives of the people who lived and worked in the region, including loggers, farmers and Native Americans. In addition to his work in the Wisconsin Dells, Bennett was also an accomplished portrait photographer. He photographed many notable figures of his time, including Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. Bennett's legacy as a photographer is still felt today. His photographs of the Wisconsin Dells are considered some of the finest examples of early American landscape photography and continue to inspire photographers and artists around the world.