Frederick "Fritz" Kaeser II (1910-1990) was an American photographer who worked in Madison, Wisconsin, Aspen, Colorado, and the American Southwest. He also did photography for the U. S. Army during World War II. Kaeser and his wife Milly established an endowment for photography at Notre Dame University.
After college, Kaeser worked as an assistant to Hollywood, CA portrait photographer William Mortensen.[2] He then relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, where he opened a photographic studio.[1] While there, he contributed to several architecture books[3][4] and architectural journals for the pioneering firm of Beatty & Strang,[5] among others. (Kaeser's brother, William, was also an early modern architect in Madison, and designed a home there for Frederick II.)[6]
Andre Roch Skiing, by Fritz Kaeser Raclin Murphy Museum of Art (gift of Milly Kaeser)
Kaeser and his wife, Milly, built a summer home in Aspen, Colorado, and spent time there in the winter as well, where he became an early ski photographer. During World War II, Kaeser joined the 10th Mountain Division, based at Camp Hale, Colorado, and contributed to the division's newspaper.[2] After the war, he studied briefly with Ansel Adams. The Kaesers also built a house in Tucson, Arizona, where he "photograph[ed] natural textures and patterns found in the earth".[7] The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona has a collection of Kaeser's work, equipment, papers and correspondence, including with Adams and Minor White.
Later life
"Fritz's Pet Milk inheritance enabled him to pursue a lifetime devoted to his hobbies."[2] In addition to photography, he was interested in rock collecting and polishing, setting up a studio in Arizona and a shop in Colorado. After Kaeser's death in 1990, his widow established the Fritz and Milly Kaeser Endowment for Photography at Notre Dame University's Snite Museum of Art (now Raclin Murphy Museum of Art),[8] as well as donating some pieces of Kaeser's work.[9]
References
1 2 3 "Fritz Kaeser papers". Special Collections and Archives Department. Denver Public Library. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
David Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame, Vol. 2, London, D. Giles Ltd., 2019, pp.236–39.
Stephen R. Moriarty, Fritz Kaeser: A Life in Photography, 1998.
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