Theodor Collin, Copenhagen, 1862.
The first amateur photographers appeared. Outdoor shots were more natural for them, because they rarely had access to studio facilities and there was not enough light for indoor shots in ordinary rooms. Doctor Theodor Collin, who was Edvard Collins brother, had the idea of putting Andersen into two roles: the good and kind family friend after a relaxing walk and with his hand on his heart the great, inspired writer. Andersen, who also made frequent use of these two pictures, made no distinction between them and always spoke of them as "the photographs in which Theodor depicted me as a street singer."
Photo by: Theodor Collin, Copenhagen, 1862.
Rudolph Striegler, Copenhagen, 1861.
The foremost photographer of carte-de-visite photographs in Denmark was Hans Christian Andersens fellow townsman from Odense, Rudolph Striegler, who added to the genre a dimension of the art of the portrait. Striegler put Andersen into a humble supplicants pose with his gaze directed at something outside the picture and, in this way, he succeeded in revealing within the framework of the conventional carte-de-visite photograph a side of Andersen he had observed and understood: This is a man who, despite all his acceptance, recognition, praise and homage, still felt like an outsider all of his life, a portrait of Hans Christian Andersen in his anguished solitude.
Photo by: Rudolph Striegler, Copenhagen, 1861.
Erwin Hanfstaengl, Paris, 1863.
During a trip to France in the spring of 1863, Hans Christian Andersen wrote to his friend, Edvard Collin, who was now beginning to collect photographs of Andersen: "One of the great photographers has asked me to sit for a picture to be sold here. It is quite beautifully conceived. I like it very much." The photograph was taken by one of Franz Hanfstaengls sons in Munich, Erwin Hanfstaengl, who prospered as a fashion photographer in Paris, where he worked under the nickname Monsieur Erwin. The picture depicts a newly-outfitted, spit-curled Hans Christian Andersen as a Parisian dandy with a seductive expression on his face - Hans Christian Andersen as womanizer. There was not much interface with the world of reality.
Photo by: Erwin Hanfstaengl, Paris, 1863.
Georg E. Hansen, Copenhagen, 1865.
Ever since Franz Hanfstaengls flattering shot of him in 1860 as a writer of genius, Hans Christian Andersen considered his high profile as quite advantageous and went to great effort to repeat the success. The result was most often the opposite. Edvard Collin later wrote in his memoirs: "He himself confessed with an affable openness that he was striving to look like a genius. Nor could it be concealed from us that, in every new photograph of him, it could be seen that he had put on his genius face."
Photo by: Georg E. Hansen, Copenhagen, 1865.
Original note: Hans Christian Andersen 1872.
Gradually, Andersen himself came to acknowledge the varying results of his efforts to evoke an expression of genius in a photograph. In 1872, when he became seriously ill, he signed this one, which he considered the most successful of these portraits and placed it within the pages of his own photo album, one reserved exclusively for pictures of himself.
Photo by: Georg E. Hansen, Copenhagen, 1865.
Budtz Müller, Copenhagen, 1863 and 1865.
Photographer Budtz Müller had a greater ability than his colleague Georg E. Hansen to get his very self-conscious model to relax, loosen up and be natural. As he was able to get closer to him, he was gradually able to get him to turn, so that you did not always look at him directly in right profile. Some beautiful, everyday-like pictures came from this but no great portrait.
Photo by: Budtz Müller, Copenhagen, 1863 and 1865.
Budtz Müller, Copenhagen, 1863.
On one occasion, when Budtz Müller was fortunate enough to photograph Hans Christian Andersen from the front, the result was less than fortunate. The vertical overhead lighting revealed all the unfortunate features of Andersens face: his coarse mouth, his huge nose, his small, deep-set eyes, one of them awry, hair sticking out on all sides. Hans Christian Andersen never again let himself be photographed from the front.
Photo by: Budtz Müller, Copenhagen, 1863.
Hans Christian Andersen with countess Frijs and her daughters.
Hans Christian Andersen regularly stayed as a guest in manor houses scattered across Denmark. At one of them, Frijsenborg in Jutland, the steward Henrik Tilemann was an unusually gifted and inventive amateur photographer. And Countess Frijs appreciated the value of his services.
Photo by: H. Tilemann, Frijsenborg, July 1863.
Hans Christian Andersen with Andrea Haffner and Agnes Frijs.
Tilemann had set up a bare-bones but relatively well-functioning studio in one of the attics of the manor and, since many of the old glass plates are still preserved, you can still how it worked and gain more insight into Andersen.
Photo by: Henrik Tilemann, Frijsenborg, 17 June 1865
Henrik Tilemann, Frijsenborg, 17 June 1865.
Hans Christian Andersens summer visit to Frijsenborg in 1865 lasted several weeks and provided the opportunity for a number of unique photographs of the writer. First, two conventional pictures of the manors newly arrived guest to be placed in the Counts family album of which one came to be the most captivating portrait of the author to be taken for a long time. It is not difficult to imagine that, with this picture in hand, the Countess asked Tilemann to continue.
Photo by: Henrik Tilemann, Frijsenborg, 17 June 1865.
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