UNDATED – A historic photo shows three young ladies on a farm posing for the photographer somewhere in Europe. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Here’s another historical photo that I aquired as part of a larger lot a while ago. It does not carry any information at all – no photographer name, no location, no handwritten notes on the back, and it is in a bad condition (see below.) The print has been mounted to a thin cardboard resembling a postcard. This was a technique that was used before the solid cardboard backs became popular for portraits and landscape photos alike. That’s why I would estimate the production date around 1870, but I could be wrong.
The image shows three farmers’ ladies – probably milk maidens – in their traditional working dresses. They could be sisters but they could also be just colleagues who work at the same farm. The dresses were quite popular across northern Europe in the 1870s, so it’s really difficult to pinpoint at least a region. It could have been photographed anywhere in Northern Europe, really.
Despite the lack of context, we get a glimpse of the real farm life in the 19th century. (Note the dirty pinafore of the girl on the right.) Quite a difference to today, I’d say, and this makes the image interesting for me.
And here is, just for your examination, the comparison of the color-calibrated unedited image and its digitally restored version:
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1870s (estimated) |
| Photographer | unknown |
| Location | unknown |
| Image Source | Albumen print from a glass negative, mounted, CdV format (c. 8.4 x 5.2 cm) |
| 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 | 8830 x 4850 Pixels |
| Copyright | Scan & Edit © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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