UNDATED – Portrait of a woman, taken by Lorenz Hansen in Kappeln, Germany. © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Lorenz Hansen
The story behind the image
The other day I acquired this Carte de Visite – or CdV – photo showing the portrait of a woman. It was shot by Lorenz Hansen in Kappeln, Germany, around the year 1908. We know that as Hansen promoted an international photo award he won in Berlin, Germany, in the year 1907. This is the only contextual information that I’ve got – there are no handwritten notes on the back.
While it is difficult to estimate the age of the woman, I guess she is in her early 20s, and she has this almost magical look in her eyes that calls for the attention, drawing the viewer into the image and towards her face.
The image has not been focused correctly on her face and eyes (what I would do), but on the chair. However, this does not matter (to me) as it might have been done by purpose to further soften the skin.
I really like this image.
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The photographer
Lorenz Peter Hansen was born in 1857 in Branderup (Denmark). He married Clara Margareta Maria Amter in 1888. They had at least three daughters: Charlotte Marie (born 1889), Else Helene Marie (born 1891), and Ester Emma Bertha (born 1900).
Hansen became the encumbent photographer of Kappeln, Germany, a small town that had been serving the region as a commercial center for ages. Hansen had been working as a photographer since the 1880s and had won a first photography prize in 1893 in Hildesheim in Lower Saxonia, Germany. He expanded his portrait work with landscape photos that he published as cabinet photos.
Lorenz Hansen died on the 29th April 1910 in Kappeln at the age of just 52 years.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1908 |
| Photographer | Lorenz Hansen |
| Location | Kappeln, Germany |
| Image Source | 5.9 x 8.9 cm black & white photo mounted to CdV cardboard, photographer stamp on verso |
| 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 | 5583 x 8316 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: L. Hansen |
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