Seepol, Oscar

Oscar SEEPOL (1903-1982) was born in Latvia of Russian parents on 21 January 1903. After a spell in a Harbin orphanage, he became an apprentice in a portrait studio in the city. Oscar met Tatiana Rudenko in Harbin and they married in Shanghai on 25 June 1925. The couple moved to Bombay, where their daughters Vicky and Helen were born. On Tatiana’s death, Oscar, Vicky and Helen moved in 1943 to Shanghai. Seepol ran a portrait studio at 156 Hart Road (now Chengde Lu), on the corner with Bubbling Well Road. Seepol inspired and taught studio photography skills to his friend, the photographer Sam Tata (see Tata's Shanghai 1949: The End of an Era). Oscar Seepol died in San Francisco on 31 May 1982. See also remembrances in Now Is The Time We Must Be Strong by George van Kleet.