HAUNTED YOUNG WOMAN IN BARMEN, GERMANY (CARTE DE VISITE)

haunted

A young woman poses for her portrait at the Samson & Company Studio in Barmen, Germany. She is wearing a dark dress with a dark polka dot top. The woman looks quite serious. In fact, her expression, in particular her eyes, projects a haunted appearance. One wonders what might be troubling this young lady. Barmen is a former industrial city located in the Bergisches Land region. The city merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. It is interesting to note that the cabinet card gallery has two other images by a gallery named Samson & Company. Both of these photographs are German but they are not located in Barmen. The other two photo studios were located in Duisburg and Karlsruhe respectively. You may view all three images by searching the category “Photographer: Samson & Company”. To complicate matters further, the book “The Lives of Erich Fromm: Love’s Prophet” reports that Fromm’s mother took him regularly to Samson & Company for portraits. The author notes that the studio was located in Frankfurt and catered to Jewish families. Erich Fromm grew up to be a celebrated pioneer psychologist.

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STYLISH MOTHER AND SON MEET SAMSON IN DUISBURG, GERMANY

A stylish mother and son pose for a portrait at the studio of Samson & Company in Duisburg, Germany. Mom has an interesting beaded dress, and a pin on her collar. The son has perfectly combed hair, and is wearing a cute short suit. He seems to be a bit intimidated by his day at the photographer, and is likely happy to be standing so close to his mother. Duisburg is a city in Germany and is located in the western part of the Ruhr area. To view other photographs that may have been produced by this photographer, click on the category, “Photographer: Samson & Co.”. The tentativeness of the previous sentence is because the other Samson & Company photograph was not produced in Duisburg. In fact, the other photograph was created at a gallery in Karlsruhe, Germany. The different locations of the Samson galleries makes one wonder if both of these photographic studios were operated by the same photographer. The two galleries were located 187 miles (300.88 kms) apart.

Published in: on January 12, 2012 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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ADORABLY DRESSED BOY WITH FUR HAT IN KARLSRUHE, GERMANY

This cabinet card presents a young boy uncommonly dressed. He is photographed by Samson of Karlsruhe, Germany. Karlsruhe is in southwest Germany near the French-German border. The city is thought to be the model cityscape of Washington D.C.. The child is wearing a very interesting outfit. Does the outfit represent an ethnic or regional group? What is the story concerning the clothing item with the heart and other designs (are they suspenders or part of his shirt)? Is that a handkerchief barely tucked into the pocket of his jacket and why is the pocket near his elbow? The fur hat and the ties at the bottom of his pants also raise some interesting questions. Finally what is the lad holding in his right hand? It looks like a wand used to blow bubbles. Hopefully, a visitor to this site may share some enlightening information regarding this boys wardrobe.

Published in: on April 1, 2010 at 12:01 am  Comments (1)  
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