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the growing middle class to follow in their footsteps. The
distinguished fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen,
albeit not a family man, was also among the most enthu-
siastic clients in the photographers’ studios right from
the beginning. With his more than 250 portraits he was
the most photographed writer at his time.
It was, of course, not just idyllic pictures of happy
families that were produced in the photographers’
studios during the 19th century. Deathbed portraiture,
although not as widespread in Denmark as in America,
England or France, was part of the visual memento
mori culture, especially during the last decade of the
19th century and a couple of decades into the 20th. The
custom was not standardized, and yet the photographs
that remain reveal visual aspirations that evoke the
classical tradition from deathbed painting. Social and
documentary photography, on the other hand, did not
break through until the beginning of the 20th century.
The most celebrated photographer in this domain was
the reporter Jacob A. Riis, who had immigrated to
America and photographed the poor people of New
York, reproduced in How the Other Half Lives in 1890.
But in Denmark, the closest thing that came to social
documentary photography were the photographs taken
of the slum quarters in Copenhagen before the redevel-
opment at the turn of the century by people like Frits
Bentzen, and the photographs Peter Elfelt, photographer
to the king, took of social outcasts in the Copenhagen
street life. These, however, were mass produced and sold
as commercial postcards, and many of the unfortunates
were brought into the studio and photographed away
from their surroundings.
The question of whether or not photography should
be acknowledged as a creative genre with affi liations to
art was not asked with the same energy and enthusiasm
as in for example England. The discussion of its status
came up on a regular basis throughout the nineteenth
century, but the arguments were less heated and the
authorities that rejected its creative potential rarely
contradicted. It was not until the latter part of the 20th
century that photography was appreciated as an art form.
As an example of the moral double standards of artists
towards the closing of the 19th century, painters such
as the Skagen group, counting Michael Ancher, Anna
Ancher and P.S. Krøyer, frequently used photography
as a means to create quick sketches from which to paint
their impressionistically inspired views of the town of
Skagen, its people and the sea. But the photographs,
although highly aesthetic and well composed works in
themselves, were never recognized as independent ac-
complishments. Technical painterly skills defi ned the
artist, and photography was merely a useful tool in the
creative process.
Jannie Uhre Ejstrud
See also: Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé; Cartes-
de-Visite; Astronomy; Domestic and Family
Photography; and Stereoscopy.Further Reading
Berner, Marie-Louise, “En profession bliver til. Daguerreotypiets
udbredelse 1839–1860,” in Dansk fotografi historie. Mette
Sandbye (ed.). Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2004, 12–37.
Hansen, André Wang, “Kunst og fotografi sk realisme,” in Dansk
fotografi historie. Mette Sandbye (ed.). Copenhagen: Gylden-
dal, 2004, 62–65.
Jonge, Ingrid Fischer, Fotografi i diamanten. Copenhagen: Det
Kongelige Bibliotek, 2004.
Jensen, Johanne Maria, Gennem lys og skygger. Familiefotografi er
fra forrige århundrede til i dag. Herning: Systime, 1994.
Kiel Bertelsen, Lars. Fotografi ets Grå Mytologi. Copenhagen:
Politisk Revy, 2000.
Kildegaard, Bjarne. “Det sidste ansigt.” In Dødens tårer, Karl
Erik Schøllhammer and Erik Kr. Sloth (eds.). Aarhus: Mod-
tryk, 1985.
Mortensen, Mette. “Portræt af borgerskabet. Portrætkulturen
1860–1880,” in Dansk fotografi historie, Mette Sandbye (ed.).
Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2004, 38–61.
Ochsner, Bjørn. Fotografi et i Danmark 1840–1940. En kulturhis-
torisk billedbog. Copenhagen: Forening for Boghåndværk,
1974.
Wolthers, Louise. ”Et billede af nationen. Fotografi et spredes
1880–1900,” in Dansk fotografi historie, Mette Sandbye (ed.).
Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2004, 66–95.DEVELOPING
Processes (general)
Broadly considered, developing refers to making a latent
image visible by means of a chemical agent, following
the exposure of a light-sensitive surface to light. Given
this defi nition, the use of a solvent—such as lavender
oil in the original heliographic process, or water in
the cyanotype process—would qualify as developing.
Similarly, the use of mercury vapors to bring out the
image in the daguerreotype process would also qualify
as developing.
To prevent such examples from multiplying in a be-
wildering manner, it is necessary to redefi ne developing
in a narrower sense: a controlled chemical reaction in
which ions associated with an exposed, light-sensitive
silver compound (silver chloride, iodide, bromide, or
nitrate) respond to the introduction of a solution contain-
ing a deoxidizing reagent by causing metallic silver to
precipitate in the form of a visible image.
From this narrower defi nition, two kinds of develop-
ing may be distinguished: chemical development and
physical development. Chemical development refers to
the direct reduction of exposed silver halide forming the
latent image to silver by a reagent in the developing so-
lution. Physical development—as applied to nineteenth
century photography—refers to an indirect reduction