Joseph Shrader, born in Orel, Russia, in 1870, became a photographer in 1885. He immigrated to the United States in 1892. In 1910, he moved to Little Rock and opened the Shrader Studio at ½ Main Street. Shrader was joined in the business by Bertha Frank Shrader, who he married in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1900. When son Buddy joined the family, the Shraders began equipping him early in his life to join the family business. After a fire in December 1933, Shrader reopened shop at 305 Main Street with 8 to 10 staff.

In addition to photographing Arkansans of all walks of life, Shrader was for many years the official photographer for the Arkansas Senate, Arkansas House of Representatives, the Law School, the Medical School, the Junior College, and Little Rock schools including the high school, Catholic High, and Mount St. Mary's Academy.

The Shrader Studio negatives collection images spans the years 1932-1979. While the earlier portion of the collection consists of entirely black and white negatives, the later years include color negatives.

Due to an unverified inventory, some images prior to 1936 may not exist in ASA collections. Images after 1936 can consistently be located.