Papf was born in the city of
Dresden,
Kingdom of Saxony, on March 17 1833 to a family of miners. Not wishing to follow in his family's profession, Papf found the means to enroll at the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in around 1850. Two years later, in 1852, Papf, then 19, saw one of his first successes with a painting dedicated to memories of his father. Later, in 1862, Papf would marry his first wife,
Sofia Schaedlich. The following year, his first son,
Jorge Henrique Papf, was born. In 1867, Papf received an offer of employment from his compatriot
Albert Henschel, who operated a photography studio in
Brazil. That same year, Papf, along with his wife and young son, traveled to Brazil, working initially in the city of
Recife. Following Henschel's opening of more branches in the next few years, Papf move to
Salvador, remaining there until 1877 when he once again moved, this time to
Rio de Janeiro, the then capital of the
Empire of Brazil, where he expected to find a better environment to pursue his work. Only a short time after his arrival in Rio de Janeiro, Papf, owing to his success and reputation as a photographer and painter, was invited to produce portraits of important figures of the
Brazilian Imperial Family, including
Princess Isabel and her
Prince Gaston, Count of Eu. The following year, Papf moved to
Niterói, where he would live from 1878 to 1880. During this period in Niterói, Papf's wife, Sofia, died, but he would soon be remarried to
Helena Schaedlich, the niece of his late wife. Together, the two had five children. In 1880, he settled in
Petrópolis, where he represented Henschel's firm. By 1885, however, Papf had broken from Henschel's company and formed his own studio in conjunction with his eldest son, Jorge Henrique; their establishment was called
Photografia Papf. In Petrópolis, Papf maintained a large orchid house, often using the flowers in his compositions. As the nineteenth century reached an end, a great economic and social surge occurred in
São Paulo, owing to a rapidly expanding coffee industry, and Papf, following the path of opportunity, bought a farm in
Sabaúna in 1899 where he would reside until his death in São Paulo on March 16 1910, the day before his seventy-seventh birthday. Jorge Henrique would assume leadership of
Photographia Papf until his own death in 1920. ==Works==