'Camera Fiends' Come Together: Hoboken Museum Patrons Kick Off 2 Exhibits

HOBOKEN, NJ — Several years ago, a retired Hoboken teacher named Ed Duff came into the Hoboken Historical Museum with a collection of glass negatives, used to make photographs 100 years ago.

Hoboken Museum President Bob Foster kept the items, putting them together with old photos from the photography clubs that roamed the mile-square city around the turn of the century.

"The people in the clubs were called 'camera fiends,' " Foster said Sunday, at an opening reception for the museum's newest exhibit. "Apparently, it was a popular group to join."

Delayed for a week due to the snowstorm, the Hoboken Historical Museum reopened Sunday with their newest exhibit, "What They Saw: Hoboken’s Amateur Photography Clubs 1889-1934."

The exhibit presents the work of the roving photographers who considered it a fun pastime to capture lug heavy equipment like tripods, capturing a changing city.

Also on Sunday, the Museum kicked off another exhibit on its second floor.

"Reflected Lowlands: Wetlands on the Urban Edge, A Dutch Perspective on Hudson County Wetlands" features the drawings and paintings of Hens Breet, a Union City resident who grew up in the Netherlands.

"Growing up in the Netherlands, Hens was shaped by landscapes defined by water, lowlands, and the careful balance between human habitation and natural systems," the Museum said. "Arriving in New Jersey, he found a resonance in the Meadowlands, the tidal wetlands, and marshes of Hudson County."

Breet told Patch he moved to Union City 20 years ago, and that he was excited for the exhibit.

"It's a real honor to be here," he said.

The exhibit will run through March 8.

The Hoboken Historic Museum is located at 1301 Hudson St. and runs many activities. Find out more here.