Background
H.F. Gros was born in Switzerland.
H.F. Gros was born in Switzerland.
His career flourished from 1869, primarily in South Africa. H. F. Gros first went to South Africa about 1869, opening a studio in Burghersdorp and then (1872) in Bloemfontein.
He traveled to the Lydenburg gold field in 1874-1875, and early in 1877 moved to Pretoria, capital of the Transvaal, and set up a studio. At that time very little cultural activity existed in the area. About 1903 H. F. Gros explored the new gold field in eastern Transvaal, traveling over the undeveloped land in a covered wagon drawn by oxen, and sometime later he returned to Geneva.
His photographic albums provide a comprehensive, socially significant document of life and conditions in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek during the years from about 1882 to 1892.
Quotes from others about the person
According to Nat Cowan in Africana Notes & News: "His photographic technique was nothing short of perfection. ... It is not possible to improve on the tonal range of Mr. Gros' original prints."