UNDATED – Portrait of a Man, taken by Georg Billström in Kiel, Germany. © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Georg Billström
The story behind the image
Georg Billström was one of the early portrait photographers in Kiel, Germany, and I shared a couple of his portraits already.
Here’s another Carte de Visite – the common photography format of the time – shot by Mr. Billström, and I preserved the original crop. It shows a man with an impressive beard. The beard makes it difficult to estimate his age, but I’d say he is in his fifties. He wears a sturdy jacket or coat with a vest underneath, and under this vest a striped shirt can be seen. The chains of a clock are visible as well. I really like the rough look of the man, and I wonder what his occupation might have been? A merchant at the harbour? The owner of a fish trawler? A coach driver? We won’t ever find out as there is no information whatsoever on the photo.
I’d estimate the shooting date to be 1893 as the back of the CdV is blank and the below the photo shows a style Billström had been using around that year. From around 1894 onwards, he would use elaborate stamps on the back to promote his skills. What’s more, Billström began stamping the date of the photography on the back in the summer of 1896, and this CdV does not carry such a stamp, so we can be certain that it was captured long before 1896.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1893 |
| Photographer | Georg Billström, Kiel |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | 5.7 x 8.8 cm black & white print mounted to 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 | 5378 x 8345 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Georg Billström |
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