This carte de visite photo is special because it is an occupational photograph. Many vintage image collectors search for and value occupational photographs. This CDV features a man at work but what is his occupation? It is clear that a clamp vice is one of the tools that he utilizes. There are strips of some material on the table in front of the vice. Are they strips made from medal? The worker appears to be wearing a uniform. I wish I knew his story? The photographer of this image is named Vaino Anshelm Rautell. As a photographer, he went by the name of VA Rautell. He was born in Lahti, Finland in 1875, and died there in 1942. Rautel studied art (painting) in Helsinki during the early 1890’s. He worked as a photographer in Lahti from about 1895 through 1927. In 1918, he photographed events of the Finnish civil war in Lahti. Teresia Dahlbom, his wife (m.1905) , worked with him in his studio. The couple divorced in 1927 and it appears they both ended their photography careers that same year. The pair had two children. At least one of Rautell’s photographs can be found in the collection of the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki. SOLD
WOW! A TERRIFIC OCCUPATIONAL CARTE de VISITE : LAHTI, FINLAND
TWO COUPLES AND A SMALL DOG IN WAASASSA, FINLAND
Signe Liljequist photographed these two couples and a small dog in his studio in Waasassa, Finland. It is very possible that the older pair are the parents of the two younger adults. The younger and older man share what appears to be a family resemblance. The four subjects in this photograph are nicely dressed and the younger man has an admirable mustache. To view other great mustaches, click on the category “Mustaches (Only the Best)”. The town of Waasassa has held a number of other names over history. Presently, the town is called Vaasa. To view other Finnish photographs, click on the category “Finland”.
FINNISH PHOTOGRAPHER KARL EMIL STAHLBERG’S MYSTERY PORTRAIT OF PENSIVE GENTLEMAN (HELSINKI, 1894)
The Cabinet Card Gallery needs help identifying the gentleman in this photograph. The pensive man in this image was photographed by Karl Emil Stahlberg (1862-1919) in Helsinki, Finland. The cabinet card is exceptionally large, 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and was photographed in 1894. . Stahlberg was a Finnish photographer and engineer. Stahlberg was a man for all seasons. In 1904 he opened Finland’s first film theatre. He was also the nations first film producer. He initially specialized in short documentaries. He later produced Finlands’s first fictional film and hired painter Louis Sparre to direct the film. Stahlberg was the cousin of Finland’s first President, Kaarlo Juho Stahlberg. The reverse of this cabinet card may offer clues as to the identity of the gentleman pictured in the photograph. In pencil on the back of the card is the inscription “Greve (unclear word) Sparre”. There is a second inscription on the reverse of the card; and a copy of this inscription is provided above. Is the subject Louis Sparre or one of his relatives? Any help in identifying the subject of this photograph would be appreciated. UPDATE: Thanks to the cabinet card gallery’s vast research department (in other words, the sites visitors), the gentleman in this photograph appears to have been identified. Check out the comment section to see how a visitor identified the gentleman in less than 24 hours time after the photograph was posted. The gentleman is not just a gentleman; he is also a Swedish Count. Ambjorn Pehr Sparre (1828-1921) was the son of Pehr Sparre, a Colonel and author. Ambjorn Pehr Sparre was the father of artist Louis Sparre. He participated in Parliament, headed a bank note paper mill, and between 1855 and 1871, established a printing house which printed stamps for the national post office. He is associated with the first Swedish hydrogen balloon ascent. He was an inventor whose work was done in the areas of security paper, weapons, bicycles, flying machines, underwater vehicles as well as a number of other areas.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 