Historicbits

HistoricBits

Images and stories

Boy in an aeroplane photomontage above the Hamburg cityscape

Historical photomontages

The dream
of flight

How travelling photographers used ingenuity and photomontage to create the illusion of an adventure.

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Four men posing as a photographer, waiter, chimney sweep and butcher before a painted seaside backdrop

Trades in the studio

Four occupations
by the sea

Photographer, waiter, chimney sweep and butcher in front of a painted seaside backdrop. A carefully staged occupational scene – but why was it made?

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Hand-coloured portrait of a woman in Bückeburg traditional dress by Friedrich Wehde

Traditional dress in photography

The Business
of Traditional Dress

Portraits, staging and regional identity in the photography of Schaumburg.

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Ukaphot portrait from Kaufhof

Department-store photography

Quick portraits
at Kaufhof

A small portrait in a sleeve and an unusual camera.

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Berlin, photographed by travellers from Chile

Travel photography

Foreign Eyes on Germany

Travel photographs by visitors from Chile

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Detail of a retouched cigarette on a glass plate negative

Analogue image editing

How Does the Smoke Get into the Picture?

A glass plate negative reveals the handmade trick.

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Soldiers in hospital clothing stage a treatment scene

Hospital photography

Wounded and Recovering

Signs of life from the military hospital – wounded soldiers and the act of posing for the camera.

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