Ambrotype courtesy of Mike Robinson, Toronto Canada

Paul K. Berg, M.D. practiced as a physician specializing in Interventional Radiology for 35 years before retiring some years ago. His interest in the Photographic Case of the Nineteenth Century spans almost two and one half decades. Concurrent with his collecting he began researching and accumulating information on thermoplastic cases heretofore unrecognized. He appreciated the need for an up to date catalog of not only thermoplastic cases but of non thermoplastic cases as well, the latter having never been extensively compiled previously. This culminated in the 1995 publication of Nineteenth Century Photographic Cases and Wall Frames. This work has been used as a reference source by many well known auction houses including Sotheby’s of New York. The case reference numbers are frequently quoted by dealers and by sellers on the internet most notably on EBay.

Illustrations from the book have been extensively reproduced by other authors in their books. Included in this list are Collectors Guide to Early Photographs by O. Henry Mace and Photographic Cases, Victorian Design Sources 1840-1870 by Adele Kenny.

Since the time of the release of the first edition, Berg has continued to record new case discoveries. Original research articles have been published in the Daguerreian Society Annuals and in Military Images, adding considerably to the body of knowledge about photographic cases and their origins.

He has been a guest lecturer before the Daguerreian Society, Photographic Historical Society of Canada and the Smithsonian Institution.

Over the years he has reviewed and itemized major institutional collections including those of the National Photographic Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the George Eastman House, the J.P. Getty Museum and the Oakland Museum of California. In November 2009 he completed a review of the collection of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.