Biography:

Born in Germany, Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn spent his youth in Poland. He fled to England for political reasons, where he began a photographic career, working for Daniel Downey in Newcastle upon Tyne. Mendelssohn subsequently set up his own studio there in 1873, first on Oxford Street and then on Northumberland Street. He moved to London in 1883, establishing studios on Cathcart Road, South Kensington, and Pembridge Crescent, Bayswater. A member of the Royal Photographic Society from 1884, Mendelssohn was also a founder member of the Professional Photographers Association.