Early in his career, Benecke was inspired by Charles Waldack's Treatise of Photography on Collodion.
Benecke's studio in the late 1850s advertised ambrotypes and daguerreotypes, and offered copying and enlargement services.
 By late 1860, he was offering melainotypes and photo coloring services (namely coloring photos using water colors or oils).
 By the early 1880s, he was working almost exclusively with artotypes.

Benecke photographed numerous places in St. Louis and its vicinity throughout his career, including steamboats, bridges, streets, and panoramic views.
 One of his most popular stereo card collections featured the Eads Bridge in its various phases of construction.
A panoramic view of St. Louis exhibited by Benecke at the 1870 St. Louis Fair was widely praised.
 In 1883, he provided several artotypes for a guide and history of Tower Grove Park.

Benecke was writing articles on photography as early as the late 1850s, when he was submitting  articles to Snelling's Photographic and Fine-Art Journal.
 During the 1870s and 1880s, Benecke wrote articles on topics ranging from improvising with minimal equipment to how to select and care for lenses.
 As an editor for the St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, Benecke wrote a column, "Echoes from Europe," which provided a summary of articles translated from German and French photography journals.

In an 1888 article, Benecke gave insight into the process he used to create stereo cards.
 He suggested using two achromatic lenses of "six inches focus" placed 3 inches (76 mm) apart.
 He noted that careful attention should be paid to trimming and mounting the finished images, arguing that errors during this part of the process were frequently to blame for the double images not matching one another or lining up.
 He bemoaned the lack of interest in stereo cards among younger photographers.

Benecke's photographs are now part of the collections of the New York Public Library, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Southern Methodist University.
Early in his career, Benecke was inspired by Charles Waldack's Treatise of Photography on Collodion. Benecke's studio in the late 1850s advertised ambrotypes and daguerreotypes, and offered copying and enlargement services.  By late 1860, he was offering melainotypes and photo coloring services (namely coloring photos using water colors or oils).  By the early 1880s, he was working almost exclusively with artotypes.
Benecke photographed numerous places in St. Louis and its vicinity throughout his career, including steamboats, bridges, streets, and panoramic views.  One of his most popular stereo card collections featured the Eads Bridge in its various phases of construction. A panoramic view of St. Louis exhibited by Benecke at the 1870 St. Louis Fair was widely praised.  In 1883, he provided several artotypes for a guide and history of Tower Grove Park.
Benecke was writing articles on photography as early as the late 1850s, when he was submitting  articles to Snelling's Photographic and Fine-Art Journal.  During the 1870s and 1880s, Benecke wrote articles on topics ranging from improvising with minimal equipment to how to select and care for lenses.  As an editor for the St. Louis and Canadian Photographer, Benecke wrote a column, "Echoes from Europe," which provided a summary of articles translated from German and French photography journals.
In an 1888 article, Benecke gave insight into the process he used to create stereo cards.  He suggested using two achromatic lenses of "six inches focus" placed 3 inches (76 mm) apart.  He noted that careful attention should be paid to trimming and mounting the finished images, arguing that errors during this part of the process were frequently to blame for the double images not matching one another or lining up.  He bemoaned the lack of interest in stereo cards among younger photographers.
Benecke's photographs are now part of the collections of the New York Public Library, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Southern Methodist University.
Robert Benecke