Mary Dorothea Frederica Steen (28 October 1856 – 7 April 1939) was a Danish photographer and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. At the age of 28, she opened a studio in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

where she specialized in indoor photography. She later became

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's first female court photographer, working not only with the Danish royal family but, at the invitation of Princess Alexandra, with the British royal family too. She also played an important part in improving conditions for female workers and encouraging women to take up the profession of photography.

Early life

Born in a village between

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

and

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).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 ...

, Steen was the daughter of Niels Jensen Steen, a schoolteacher, and Caroline Kirstine Petersen. In her late teens, she moved to

where she graduated at the Women's Business School but she soon found out that she was not made for office work. She decided to take up photography and received training first in

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and then with a photographer in Copenhagen.

Professional career

Mary Steen Victoria Beatrice Windsor 1895

In 1884, at the age of 28, she opened her own photographic studio on

Amagertorv Amagertorv (English: Amager Square), today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, is often described as the most central square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is also one of the oldest, taking its name from the Amage ...

in the centre of Copenhagen. At the 1888 Nordic Exhibition she won a silver medal for her photographs of both royalty and ordinary citizens in their homes, and she also exhibited at the 1893 World Exhibition in Chicago. Steen's speciality was indoor photography, a difficult art at a time when electricity was not widespread. The photographs she took at the Flerons' house on Copenhagen's

Vesterbrogade Vesterbrogade () is the main shopping street of the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. The 1.5 km long street runs from the City Hall Square in the east to Pile Allé in Frederiksberg in the west where it turns into Roskildevej. On ...

are among the first showing people inside their own homes. The indoor photographs in ''Et minde fra Fredensborg i fjor'' (Last year's memories of Fredensborg) are among the first shots to be published in the magazine ''Illustreret Tidende''. In 1888, she became the first female court photographer for Princess Alexandra who was to marry Great Britain's

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

. Around 1895, Princess Alexandra invited her to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where she photographed members of the royal family, including

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. As a result of growing deafness, she closed her studio in 1918.

Promoting feminism

In 1891, she was the first woman on the board of the Danish Photographers Association. She was also active in the Danish Women's Society (''Dansk Kvindesamfund'') where she sat on the board from 1889–1892. Together with

Julie Laurberg Julie Rasmine Marie Laurberg (7 September 1856 – 29 June 1925) was an early Danish photographer who, together with Franziska Gad (1873–1921), ran a successful photography business in central Copenhagen. Early life and education Born in Grenå, ...

, she photographed the leading figures in the Danish women's movement. In 1891, she received a grant from the Reiersenske Fond, a trade association, which allowed her to travel to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

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. She campaigned for better working conditions for women including eight days holiday and a half day off on Sundays. She treated her own staff well, paying good wages.

Overall assessment

Steen considered her work to be art. Photography was becoming an attractive profession for women. Agnes Henningsen who became a trainee with Mary Steen in 1895 provides a lively description of Steen in her memoirs ''Byen erobret'', published in 1945: "Everything about Mary Steen was powerful and energetic. She shook her head decisively, refusing to have a trainee. She would discourage anyone who wanted to open a studio in Copenhagen. (...) I concluded: 'So I won't be able to take those children, Miss Steen. The only thing I want is to be a photographer.' She stood up, gesturing meaningfully: 'Start tomorrow.'"Henningsen, Agnes, ''Byen erobret: erindringer'', Copenhagen 1945.

References

Sources