When Arivd Victor Hasselblad, son of the founder, and amateur photographer set up a photographic division within the company he reportedly said 'I certainly don't think we will earn much money on this, but at least it will allow us to take pictures for free.' He was soon proved wrong and the photographic department became a major part of the company.
Soon after this Arvid Victor meets George Eastman (the founder of kodak) and based on a handshake, the company becomes the sole distributor of Kodak products. This business was so successful the in 1908, it was made into its own corporation called Fotografiska AB.
Ownership of the company eventually passed to Karl Erik Hasselblad, Arvid Victors son.
Karl wanted his son, Victor Hasselblad, to have a wide understanding of the camera business, so sent him to Dresden in Germany, which was then the world centre for the optics industry. He spent the next few years travelling between Europe and the US working on many different photographic endeavours before returning to the family business. Because of disputes in the family Victor broke away and set up his own photo shop and lab in Central Gothenburg called Victor Foto.
During the Second World War, the Swedish Government recovered a fully functional German spy camera, and they approached Victor to make one similar. So he established a workshop in an auto mobile workshop, and with the help of a skilled mechanic, he started work on the HK7.
By the end of 1941, Victor had a small factory with 20 workers, called Ross Incorporated. Between 1941 and 1945, Victor had delivered 342 cameras to the Swedish Military.
In 1942 Victor's father dies so he took control of the company. He saw the production of military cameras as a starting point for producing cameras for the consumer market.
"This model, a single-lens, mirror reflex, 6x6 camera with interchangeable Kodak lenses, film magazines, and viewfinders, was unveiled to great acclaim at a press conference in New York City. The 1600F camera met with great critical acclaim and was a truly groundbreaking feat of engineering."
There were flaws of course, as with many brand new products. Because of the watch-making backgrounds of many of the workers, the mechanics were very delicate, so they couldn't stand up to the strain of a handhold camera. Eventually the design improvements led to a camera that Victor was proud of; the 1000F.
This Hasselblad never broke or went out of alignment, so the durability issues had been resolved and a legend was born.
At the age of 78, Victor Hasselblad died. In his will he left the majority of his fortune to the Erna and Victor Hasselblad Foundation. The foundations purpose is to promote research in natural sciences and photography. The annual photographic award, 'The Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography' is the biggest award in the world of photography and a fitting memorial to Victor and the the world of photography he loved so much.
