Hamilton has been the home of many fine photographers. Perhaps one of the best was Charles Schriber (C.S.) Cochran. In 1886, he moved to Hamilton from London, Ontario, where he was born in 1854. That same year he started a photo studio located at 124 King Street East.

When the studio first opened, Cochran could not take pictures. He hired an assistant, Alexander McKenzie Cunningham. Cochran eventually learned the business as time wore on. The Business and its reputation grew steadily and by the mid-1890’s, Cochran’s was the leading studio in the country. Most local dignitaries and organizations had portraits done there. Women would have their bridal portraits done and come back a year or so later to have their first child photographed. Then their second, third, and fourth child and so on. Soon it was family portraits. Visits to C.S. Cochran’s studio were an important part of any Hamilton family’s life. A.M. Cunningham had a skill for arranging people to achieve the most artistic results. And the prints were incredibly clear because they were made straight from the glass negatives without being enlarged at all. "Cabinet" photos were sold to wealthier people, and average folks bought "tintype" photographs.

C.S. Cochran’s photographic studio won medals of honour and diplomas at the Jamaica Convention in 1891. They also won awards at the World’s Colombian Exposition in 1893. Cochran’s studio regularly received awards at the conventions of the Photographic Association of Canada. Cochran was commissioned by W.H. Carre to do studies for a book called Artwork on Hamilton published in 1899. The photographs taken were some of the best of the City in the period.

In 1899, the business moved from King Street East to 3 James Street north. In the new location, Cochran provided the same services as before, such as artistic portraits, scenic photography, and colour or black and white enlargements. He also added new services, like selling amateur cameras and supplies, supplying the latest designs in picture frames and mouldings, and importing / dealing in works of art. The average price for a photograph was 20 cents.

The Hamilton Spectator called the new studio the handsomest and best-appointed photo studio in Canada. On the opening day, 2,000 people visited the new studio. On the first floor was the office. The room was quite a spectacle, finished in quartered oak, artistic grille-work, linoleum of carpet pattern, terra-cotta walls, gilt and cream design, and a metallic ceiling. Cochran had designed two cabinets that displayed frames, mouldings, and supplies for amateurs. An oak staircase led from the office, first to a resting room, and then to a reception room, which was very artistic in appearance. Wilton carpet covered the floor and the windows were attractively draped. Fine photographs decorated the walls and a circular cushion seat hugged the pillar in the middle of the room. North of the reception room was a dressing room for sitters and the operating room. This room, measuring 20 by 40 feet, was equipped with splendid light and a variety of backgrounds. Upstairs from this floor were stock rooms and printing rooms. The new studio was beautiful.

Cochran’s Studio was once commissioned by the Board of Education of the City of Hamilton. The Board decided that they wanted to decorate the walls of their room in City Hall by hanging a portrait of each man elected Chairman of the Board in the last 25 years. They hired Cochran and were very pleased with the photographs. Cochran exhibited the photos at his studio for a week before handing them over the Board of Education. The Hamilton Times for March 5, 1892, stated that the quality was superior to anything before seen in Hamilton. The paper reported that "Hamilton has just reason to feel proud of possessing such a photographer as Mr. Cochran …".

In late 1902, Cochran sold his interests in the company to Cunningham. He stayed in Hamilton for another year, then left for the United States in 1904. From 1907 to 1912, Cochran had a studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Later, he moved to California where he lived until his death in 1933. Cunningham continued the business in Hamilton. In 1915 his son entered the business, and in 1923 the name changed to A.M. Cunningham & Son when the business became a partnership. In February 1926, Cunningham died suddenly and the studio’s name changed to Cunningham & Son.

On January 30, 1934 a fire downtown caused $100,000 in damages to downtown offices. Cunningham’s studio faced the greatest stock loss of all the buildings. The threat of highly combustible photographic films and chemicals made the job very dangerous for firefighters. In the end, the damages amounted to about $35,000. Tragically, the fire destroyed or damaged 160,000 negatives, some dating back to the studio’s opening. The negatives had been carefully preserved and numbered and comprised the most complete photographic record in Hamilton. The negatives and glass plates would have provided an outstanding history of Hamilton had they not been destroyed.