He grew to national prominence during the American Civil War and expanded his business to include two studios and a large phototype printing operation.

[3] His father wanted young Frederick to become a lawyer and sent him to study law for six years under Joseph Simon Cohen, prothonotary to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Gutekunst found the study of law "dry and uninteresting" and instead became interested in the emerging photographic technique of the daguerreotype.

He was a frequent visitor to Marcus Aurelius Root's gallery and learned the craft of daguerreotype from photography pioneer Robert Cornelius.

Gutekunst displayed an aptitude for chemistry and progressed the technique to convert a dagurerreotype image unto a printable electrotype plate.

Philadelphia was a major center for military deployment and soldiers would have their portraits made in their uniforms as a memento for their families before going off to war.

[10] He created a ten-foot wide and 18 inch high panoramic photograph of the 1876 Centennial Exposition made from seven negatives.

[10] One year later upon visit to Philadelphia, J. H. Fitzgibbons, the editor of the St. Louis Practical Photographer, noted that Gutekunst was manufacturing thousands of prints every day.

Eventually, this new factory needed to move out of Arch Street and up to 813 Girard Ave where a staff of forty under the supervision of the engraver, James P. Harbeson, kept up with demand for reproduction for publications, etc.

Also, Gutekunst began to use what we would now call a panoramic camera which took a photo of one hundred and eighty degrees and from which the studio could produce a print thirty-six inches in length.