PORTRAIT OF A LOVELY COUPLE IN BARMEN, GERMANY (CARTE DE VISITE)

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A lovely couple poses for their portrait at the Stuting and Sohn studio in Barmen, Germany. The man and woman are well dressed. The man is holding reading material on his lap. One of the more remarkable aspects of this image is the gentleman’s interesting mustache. The mustache is bushy and curls wonderfully at each end. The photographer, Stuting, is cited in two photographic journals published in 1890 (American Journal of Photography, The Photographic News). Stuting’s studio was located in Barmen, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen is also known as the birthplace of socialist theorist Friedrich Engels. Finding a photographer in Barmen at the turn of the century must not have been much of a problem. The Cabinet Card Gallery has a number of carte de visite photographs originating from studios in Barmen. Printed on the lower right hand corner of the reverse of this cdv is the number “1907”. This likely represents the date that this photograph was taken despite the fact that most photographers stopped producing carte de visite photographs by that date.

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Published in: on October 28, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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HAUNTED YOUNG WOMAN IN BARMEN, GERMANY (CARTE DE VISITE)

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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.

Published in: on October 8, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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DAPPER GENTLEMAN WITH A HANDLEBAR MUSTACHE IN BARMEN, GERMANY (CDV)

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This cartes de visite features a dapper gentleman wearing a three piece suit and a wonderful handlebar mustache. He displays an air of confidence. This cdv portrait was taken by Zeppenfeld & Company which was located in Barmen, Germany. Barmen was pioneering center of the early European industrial revolution as well as the development of socialist theory and the socialist movement. Barmen was the birthplace of socialist Friedrich Engels. This cdv measures 4 5/8″ x 2 1/4″. It is longer and narrower than the typical cdv. The reverse of the image has information about the photographer and it can be seen below.

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Published in: on August 21, 2015 at 11:53 am  Leave a Comment  
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