Austrian Photography


Figure 1.--This Austrian CDV was taken in 1882. The studio was Julius Gertinger in Vienna. The background seems very plain for the 1880s. The card matte was done in a color more common for cabinet cards. The print at the bottom is very common for European CDVs.

Austrians as far as can tell were not involved in the research that led to the invention of photography in the 1820s and 30s. As far as we can tell, the industry was slow to develop in Austria after the Daguerreotype appear (1839). We have not found any 1840s dags and 50s dags seem rare. We note Joseph Puchberger invented the first panoramic camera (1843). We have no information on Ambrotypes and Tintypes. The Albertina Museum and research project in Vienna does a lot of work on photography and the graohic arts. We note that two of the three books they offerd on their webite in 2010 about Vienese photography began in 1860. The rarity of early photographs is similar to the pattern in Germany. We do begin to see substantial numbers of Austria photographs in the 1860s with the appearance of the CDV. From this point the photographic industry in Austria seems very similar to that of other German states. (Germany was only unified in 1871). Austrian Karl Klic invented photogravure (1879). This was an important step toward the ability to print photographs. Until this, phoptographs and paintings had to be engraved, an expensive process to be printyed in books and magazines. Photogravure was a relatively inexpensive photomechanical process. One of the best known Austrian photographers is Ernst Haas (1921-86). His gradually moved from experiments with abrstraction to photo journalism. His innovations in color photography are highly regarded. An associate of Haas, Inge Morath (1923-2002) is also highly regarded.

Background

Neither Austria or Germany played an important role in the development of photography. Austrians as far as can tell were not involved in the research that led to the invention of photography in the 1820s and 30s. As far as we can tell, the industry was slow to develop in Austria after the Daguerreotype appear (1839). We have not found any 1840s dags and 50s dags seem rare. We note Joseph Puchberger invented the first panoramic camera (1843). We have no information on Ambrotypes and Tintypes. The Albertina Museum and research project in Vienna does a lot of work on photography and the graphic arts. We note that two of the three books they offered on their webite in 2010 about Vienese photography began in 1860.

Types

We see the same photographic formats in Austria as we see in other countries. As a result of our limited Austrin archice, however, we have noy yet found examples of the various types, especially the dated examples that are useful in developing chronolohgical trends. We have found very few early Austrian photographic images like Dags and Ambros. The rarity of early photographs is similar to the pattern in Germany. This changes with the appearance of the albumen process and negative printing. We only begin to see substantial numbers of Austrian photographs with the appearance of the CDVs (1860s). From this point the photographic industry in Austria seems very similar to that of other German states. (Germany was only unified in 1871). We see similar variations in CDVs that we see in America and other European countries. Early CDVs had plain front text and pointted corners. We are not sure yet when cabinet cards appeared, probably the late-1860s. Even so the CDV continued to be popular format. By the 1870s we begin to see decorative backs. Here we see a CDV with a colored mount, looking somewhat lile a caninet card (figure 1). Notice the rounded corners. New cabinet card mounts appear in the 20th century. We also see postcard back prints along with silver nitrate printing.

Publishing

Austrian Karl Klic invented photogravure (1879). This was an important step toward the ability to print photographs. Until this, phoptographs and paintings had to be engraved, an expensive process to be printyed in books and magazines. Photogravure was a relatively inexpensive photomechanical process. One of the best known Austrian photographers is Ernst Haas (1921-86). His gradually moved from experiments with abrstraction to photo journalism.

Color

Ernst Haas' innovations in color photography are highly regarded. An associate of Haas, Inge Morath (1923-2002) is also highly regarded.








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Created: 4:57 AM 12/18/2010
Last updated: 1:11 AM 9/30/2016





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Created: 4:57 AM 12/18/2010
Last updated: 1:11 AM 9/30/2016