A historic undated black and white photo print shows a man on a chair in a studio. Scan © zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Sellers of historic postcards can be weird. The other day I purchased a CdV photo print, and this print came protected in a plastic envelope which was additionally wrapped by two additional prints!
One of the two images was this portrait of Mr. Reimann. It is undated, and neither the studio nor the photographer or the location have been mentioned. It’s a photo print that I estimate to be shot between 1915 and 1920 with traditional (slow) studio equipment, somewhere in Germany. That’s because the photographer obviously edited the image heavily to remove the traces of a neckholder (behind the chair) that was used to keep the head of a person still for the long exposure time. This practice vanished with the availability of affordable flashes and faster film.
Anyway, Mr. Reiman has written a lengthy note on the back, a Christmas greeting for someone he had been corresponding with for some time but never met in person. He wrote:
“Since I have not yet been able to introduce myself in person, I will at least allow myself to show you a picture of me. I have just gotten a little fatter, but that doesn’t matter.”
Apparently, he sent this print and note several years after the photo had been taken. But nonetheless it left an impression on the recipient – presumably a lady – as the glue traces on the back suggest that it must have been part of an album.
I looked at the portrait that was used to protect the CdV I had purchased. The print was in excellent condition – super sharp and well exposed – so I decided to keep at least this image of the (slim) Mr. Reimann alive.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | unkown |
| Photographer | unknown |
| Location | unknown |
| Image Source | 8.7 x 13.7 cm photo 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 | 4087 x 6434 Pixels |
| Copyright | Scan © zanzig.com |
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