Class photo

The later Chancellor Hermann Müller in 1885 in the class photo of the sixth child of the Mannheim high school (back row, 5th from left)

The class photo (also: class picture , school photo or school picture ) is a form of group photography that has been used as a souvenir photo of school days since around 1880. Usually the children who had just finished school were taken by specially equipped school photographers as a “reminder of my school days”. This sentence is either on boards that are held in the picture or on the passe-partouts of the photographs.

historical development

The photos were initially - depending on the technical possibilities of photography - open-air recordings. For this purpose, step scaffolding was built in front of the school building, on the one hand to get the school-age children with class sizes of often 60 children including teachers in the picture, on the other hand to have enough light for the shortest possible release times with sufficient depth of focus and attention to detail.

Since around 1900, the picture documentation of the children who have completed schooling has been moved to the classroom. As a result, the school equipment in the classrooms and their decoration are now also visible.

Since then, better light intensities and wide-angle lenses have opened up new possibilities for expression. In addition, there will soon be photos of graduating classes and photos of high school students with their student hats .

High school students with school caps, 1904

School photographs provide information about the development of photo technology and group photography, they show the development of child and student status, freedoms and discipline, and the development of children's and student clothing. In many cases, a class photo is the only existing photograph of a major childhood personality. Due to the relatively large number of prints that have been made from a picture, the chance of transmission in the possession of a classmate is relatively high.

Class photo to commemorate school days, Amendingen elementary school , school year 1920–1921

Class photo Ollndorf 1934

The Hubert (1884–1964) and Walter Haagmans (1923–2005) archive in the State Archives of the Canton of Zurich offers excellent material for the history of school photography . In the period between 1927 and 1995, Haagmans father and son each took two pictures of 55,000 school classes in the canton of Zurich . Digital copies were put online in 2010. Partial collections of class photos can be found in folklore museums and special school museums .

distribution

In the past, the photos were taken by the photographer, worked out and presented for viewing. If they liked, the students could order the pictures and pay for them at school. Thanks to the digital processing , it is now easier to produce the images immediately and to throw them away if they are not accepted. In addition, not only class photos, but also individual portraits of the students are now made, which are processed into numerous additional items such as decals , calendars, business cards . These products are also mostly delivered without an order. Often only complete sets can be accepted.

Commissions, bonuses, sponsorship

For the placing of orders and as compensation for the processing of the sale by the school (teachers distribute the photos in the class, collect the money and collect unwanted photos) photo studios offer commission payments or goods premiums under the title "expense allowance". Even if these bonuses benefit the school, they are paid indirectly by the parents. In this context, in December 2013 the Public Prosecutor for Business and Corruption in Vienna started investigations into bribery and corruption against a studio and some school principals. In 2014 the Supreme Court decided that this practice was not immoral as long as there was no obligation to buy. In another ruling from 2016, the Supreme Court acquitted the school principal from allegations of corruption, as there was no private enrichment. At the moment only free photo sets are openly given for employees. The rest is done through partner and sponsorship contracts. In some schools, the selection of the photographer was delegated to the parents' association .

In Germany, too, since a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice in May 2011, action has been taken against these bonuses.

Dropship

In the last few years, the method of sending the pictures and the payment slip directly to the students' homes has become established. Since this, according to the Consumer Protection Act to unsolicited products is the adoption or return is not mandatory any unwanted images. As the addresses are often passed on from the school to the studios without permission, this method also violates the data protection law , at least for underage students . In addition, shipping costs are charged, which make it unprofitable to only take the actual class photo. For the school that chooses the photographer, there are also commissions or subsidies, the effort for the sale is completely eliminated for the teachers, which is why higher schools in particular prefer this method. Since the clarification that addresses may not be passed on to the studios, they secure themselves by requesting a declaration of consent from the parents for data use and address transmission. Others have the school distribute the photos and the payment slip.

Amalgamation with the production of the edu.card

After one of the currently 13 licensed photo studios has produced the Austrian student ID edu.card , this is usually done parallel to the production of the class photos. The business relationship with the school is sometimes strengthened by sponsoring the expensive edu.card terminals. Smaller photographers then no longer get a chance.