Lapel (photography)
In photography , lapel is the back of the cardboard box on which the finished photograph was glued. The word is rarely used in colloquial terms. Obverse is the corresponding word for the front.
The box
After the very thin photo papers (usually albumen paper ) had been exposed to light and then dried, they had a tendency to curl up, which was prevented by the use of strong cardboard. Various names for cardboard appear in the literature, including underlay cardboard , photographic card and cardboard carrier .
Common cardboard formats
(All dimensions in mm. These are calculated average sizes.)
| designation | Dimensions | from | to |
|---|---|---|---|
| stereoscope | 88 × 178 | 1853 | 1910 |
| Carte de Visite / Visit | 65 × 105 | 1857 | 1925 |
| cabinet | 108 × 166 | 1867 | 1915 |
| Oblong / promenade | 105 × 210 | 1875 | 1910 |
| boudoir | 135 × 220 | 1875 | 1910 |
Design of the lapel
The owners of photographic studios and the manufacturers of the cardboard boxes did not pay attention to the back of the photographs until around 1860, when photographs in the Carte de Visite (CdV) format had become more popular with the public.
First the name of the photographer / studio and the address were printed, stamped or stuck on in the form of a label. If necessary, the location was described in more detail, such as “Atelier in the garden” or “Atelier in the garden of Carl Schultze's theater ”, “Carl Schultze's theater across the street” etc. Since the photographers were still dependent on natural daylight for their activities at that time the note "acceptance in any weather" attract doubting customers.
As an indication of special skills and a further offer of the studio, some gave the profession not only “photographer”, but also “portrait painter”. Studios with the sales-promoting title “Hof-Photographer (in)” and a corresponding depiction of the coat of arms of a ruling house were in great demand . Other photographers had their tools such as paint brushes and palettes or photographic utensils such as plate cameras and lenses shown. Graphic decorative elements can be seen on many lapels. The studio owner's initials can also adorn the back, either free-standing or, for example, within a frame.
The exhibitions of photography in 1865 in Berlin, 1868 in Hamburg and 1869 in Altona, the first awards and were medals awarded. After an award, the medal was also shown, both sides of the medal, in order to make the number of awards appear larger. The majority of the successful studios "paved" the back of the boxes with images of medals over the years. However, these images are only of limited use as evidence of the success of a studio, as a medal was usually awarded to the respective photographer.
Over the years, the representations developed in great variety. The back of some photographic studios was elaborately worked out by a lithographic establishment and thus entered into a competition with the front. Franz Neumayer from Munich, photographer E. Tietze in Bad Elster and Albert Meyer , for example, had their studios displayed in their entirety. The name of the lithographic establishment is also given on some of the lapels.
Examples
CdV , name and address as stamp,
Atelier Günter, Hanover, around 1860
CdV, front (left) depicts Hoffmann von Fallersleben , photographer unknown; Revers (right) with initial “P.” on decorative element
Revers of a CD with various elements: painter's palette (around 1870, here reference to group pictures), diagonal lettering (around 1875), Julius Kricheldorff's photo studio
Revers of a CDV with a picture of the office building around 1900. Albert Meyer, Berlin
Reverse of a CDV black with gold print around 1875. Lithograph Bernhard Wachtl (1852–1920), Vienna
Lithographic institutions (selection)
The lithographs on the lapels were usually made to order by supraregional producers. This included Albert Glock from Karlsruhe , himself a photographer and inventor, who especially supplied southern Germany with photographic articles.
Further examples of lithographic institutions that produced cardboard boxes for photographic studios and designed the lapel:
- Berlin photographic card factory Block & Co, Berlin. Client: E. Bieber (Berlin)
- Brandt & Wilde, Berlin
- Haake & Albers , Frankfurt. Customer: Höffert (Dresden), see picture on the right
- Carl Ernst & Co., A.-G. (Photography cards and cardboard boxes), Berlin
- Friedrich Hundt & Co, Hamburg. Customers: E. Bieber (Hamburg), Benque & Kindermann (Hamburg)
- Klindworths Hofdruckerei , Hanover. Client: Karl Wunder (Hanover)
- Karl Krziwanek , Vienna (lithographic institute). Customers: E. Bieber (Hamburg), Heinrich Friedrich Plate (Hamburg), Benque & Kindermann (Hamburg); other customers in Galicia
- J. Knoevenagel (lithographic institute), Hanover. Customers: Carl Thies (Hanover), Atelier Jürgens (Altona)
- Carl Lange , Berlin
- Alex Lindner, Berlin. Client: Ernst Küster (Munich)
- Stolze & Stück (factory of frame strips and picture frames), Hamburg. Customers: Benque & Kindermann (Hamburg), Carl Thies (Hanover)
- Ulbricht & Kaders, Dresden. Client: E. Tietze (Bad Elster)
literature
- Ludwig Hoerner : The photographic trade in Germany 1839–1914 . GFW-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1989, ISBN 3-87258-000-0 .
- Support box (standard formats, stereo and collective pictures, clippers, manufacturers, decorations, writing). In: Timm Starl (Ed.): Photo history , Jonas Verlag, 2006, issue 99, vol. 26, p. 17 ff.
- Josef Maria Eder (Ed.): Yearbook for Photography and Reproduction Technology for the year 1889 , Wilhelm Knapp, Halle / S., 1889.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Yearbook for Photography and Reproduction Technology for the year 1889 , p. 74.
- ↑ Timm Starl (Ed.): Photo History , p. 12.
- ^ A b "Lexicon of Photographers" Private website by Danuta Thiel-Melerski
- ^ Eduard Brandt, Factory of Photographic Preparations (Source: NN: Wiener Weltausstellung , Official Catalog of the Exhibition of the German Empire , Berlin 1873, p. 440).
- ^ Cardboard carrier manufacturer and photographic paper factory. The namesake were Carl Ulbricht and Emil Kaders.
