UNDATED – Portrait of a lady. © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Sophie Mentze
The story behind the image
As you know by now, I am a big fan of antique photos. Here’s an undated photo of a beautiful lady of maybe 20 years who posed for the photographer in Nykøbing Sjælland in Denmark.
The technology – a CdV on solid beige cardboard – suggests that the image was taken between 1895 and 1910, which was the approximate peak of this CdV style, at least in Northern Germany. The photographic style however – a lot of white space flowing softly around the upper body in a circle – indicates a shooting date closer to 1900 as this style was en vogue between 1890 and 1905.
The photographer, Sophie Magdalena Mentze, was born in 1862. She started her photo business in 1897 (at the age of 25) in Brande in Central Denmark. Here’s an awesome album showing 14 of the photos she created in and around Brande.
In 1904, however, she moved to Nykøbing in Sjælland. This town was much closer to Copenhagen, but I can’t say whether this was the reason for the move. But she quickly found new customers, and the lady above was probably one of them. Since the image shows already the new studio location in Nykøbing, I’d estimate this image was shot in 1904 or 1905.
The studio was active until at least 1916. It is not unlikely that the first world war impacted her business, and she might have closed it.
She died on the 26th December 1931.
Here are two articles covering her Brande period and her Nykøbing period (both in Danish.) Stunning insights into her work.
I was fascinated by her story because female photographers were pretty rare in the early days. There were some, yes, but the overwhelming majority of studios were owned and operated by men.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1905 |
| Location | Nykøbing Sjælland, Denmark |
| Photographer | Sophie Mentze |
| Image Source | 6 x 9 cm black & white albumen print mounted on solid cardboard |
| 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 | 5761 x 8382 Pixels |
| Copyright | Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Sophie Mentze |
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