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Frederikke Jakobine Federspiel (1839–1913) was the first female photographer to practice in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
. For many years, she ran her own photographic studio in
Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...
, always keeping abreast of the latest developments. Among her clients were the Danish princesses Dagmar and
Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
who were attracted by her photo enamel jewelry.


Early life

Born in
Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...
,
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, she was brought up in a bourgeois home together with her sister and five brothers. Her father died when she was only six after which her mother earned a living as a
milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
. After her mother's death in 1874, she went to
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
to learn photography. Living with her uncle, Poul Friedrich Lewitz, and her aunt Juliane, she became an apprentice to her cousin Alfred Lewitz, also a photographer.Frederikke Federspiel (1839-1913). From ''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon.''
Retrieved 1 February 2010. In her diary she records how much she enjoyed her year in Hamburg with many excursions, evenings at the theatre and wonderful meals.Tove Hansen: Kvindelige fotografer i Danmark før 1900. Fund og Forskning, Bind 29 (1990). From Tidsskrift.dk.
Retrieved 14 February 2010.


Working as a photographer

After completing her apprenticeship in 1876, Frederikke Federspiel returned to Denmark, where she was the first women to apply for a licence to trade in photography. She settled in Aalborg with her sister Sophie. While her sister exercised her trade in lingerie and embroidery in the living room, Frederikke set up a photographic studio on the top floor. There were already two photographers in Aalborg, one of whom was the well-established
Heinrich Tønnies Johan Georg Heinrich Ludwig Tønnies (or ''Tönnies'') (10 May 1825 – 11 December 1903) was an early German-Danish photographer who had a studio in Aalborg, Denmark. Biography Born in Grünenplan, Germany, he was trained as a glass paint ...
. She was aware of the competition but astutely publicized her business, always ensuring she kept up with evolving technology. For extended periods, she managed to run the second most prosperous photographic business in the city. In 1878, she fell ill and spent eight months in hospital followed by a further three months at St. Oluf's sanitorium in
Modum Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The area has a long tr ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. She was to return to the spa several times in later years. With her sister, she spent her summer holidays at the new seaside resorts of
Blokhus Blokhus is a village in North Jutland, Denmark. It is located in Jammerbugt Municipality. Blokhus is a popular beach town with around 1 million visitors every year. History Blokhus was originally named ''Hune Hvarre''. In the early 1600s there w ...
, Løkken and
Fanø Fanø () is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. Fanø municipality is the municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') that covers the island and its seat ...
. In 1883, Frederikke Federspiel and Nielsine Zehngraf from
Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022). In 1899, she started to produce enamel jewelry and cufflinks embedded with photographs using direct positives produced with a four-lensed multiplicator camera. She had made special arrangements for the equipment to be imported from the United States to facilitate the work. The jewelry was shown at a Christmas exhibition at Copenhagen's Industry Association, attracting the attention of the royal family. As a result, she was able to count Princess Alexandra and Tsaritsa Dagmar among her clients.


Keeping abreast of technology

Always interested in the latest technical developments, she was quick to start using
dry plate Dry plate, also known as gelatin process, is an improved type of photographic plate. It was invented by Dr. Richard L. Maddox in 1871 and had become so widely adopted by 1879 that the first dry plate factory had been established. With much of ...
s which offered a safer and cheaper method of exposure and development. She was also one of the first to experiment with magnesium power for flash and she installed electric lamps in her studio when electricity came to Aalborg in 1901. In the early 1900s, she began to sell cameras for amateur photographers. Among her students and assistants were Ernst Gøpel, Fritz Karner and Georg Bendtzen Holm who would later become leading photographers.


Overall assessment

Frederikke Federspiel constantly adopted developments in photography although, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of her studio, she stated that her business had not evolved as she had hoped. Nevertheless, when she died in 1913, the Dansk Fotografisk Tidsskrift (Danish Photography Magazine) characterized her as "an unusually likable, honest and energetic lady whose work has been counted among the best."


See also

*
Photography in Denmark In Denmark, photography has developed from strong participation and interest in the very history of photography, beginnings of the art in 1839 to the success of a considerable number of Danes in the world of photography today. Pioneers Mads Alst ...
*
History of photography The history of photography began in remote antiquity with the discovery of two critical principles: camera obscura image projection and the observation that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light. There are no artifacts or de ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federspiel, Federikke 1839 births 1913 deaths Pioneers of photography 19th-century Danish photographers Danish women photographers People from Horsens 19th-century women photographers