Backside of a photo in the Carte de Visite format advertising the rates for studio services by Georg Billström in Kiel in Germany. © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Yesterday I shared the historic photo of a man in a studio and the story of the photographer, Georg Billström. Billström was an innovative studio photographer and became (later in his life) a cinema owner in my hometown Kiel in Germany.
On the back of the photo is a price list showing the rates for Billström’s photography services.
Why would Mr. Billström print a price list on the back of a photo? Most certainly to promote his new studio. Prices were quoted in Mark which was the offical currency back then. I found an official publication by Deutsche Bundesbank that calculated a conversion factor of 7.9 for the year 1890 (to convert Marks of 1890 to Euros of 2023.)
Entry level pricing started at 3 Marks (about 23.70 Euro in 2023) for simple shots including 12 prints in CdV format and went up to 18 Marks (about 142 Euro in 2023) for a dozen kids photos, group photos, or upper body photos in the large cabinet format.
I share this price list because it works extremely well, both on its own and in conjunction with its front side.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Creation date | c. 1890 |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | 9 x 14 cm black & white print |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 5864 x 9735 Pixels |
| Copyright | Scan © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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