Thora Hallager (1821–1884) was a Danish photographer. She was Denmark's earliest female photographer. She was the daughter of the official Andreas Hallager (d. 1853) and Anne Margrethe Degen. Her parents was not married but lived together until 1846. She appears to have been familiar with

daguerreotypy Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

before she went on a study trip to Paris in 1855, apparently to learn about the latest American developments in the process. She probably practised as a photographer 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 ...

from about 1850 before opening her own studio in 1857. Hallager was

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

's landlady in Lille Kongensgade, Copenhagen, from 1866 to 1869 and in

Nyhavn Nyhavn (; New Harbour) is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 1 ...

from 1871 to 1873. Andersen wrote to her frequently during his travels from 1867 to 1873, explaining for the most part where he had been and when he expected to return but on one occasion (letter of 21 June 1869) he tells her how pleased he was with a photograph she had taken of him, informing her it had also been appreciated by all those who had seen it."H.C. Andersen-breve: Breve til Thora Hallager"
H.C. Andersen Centret. Retrieved 5 March 2013.

Selected photographs

File:HCA by Thora Hallager 1869.jpg, Hans Christian Andersen (October 1869) File:Carl Wagner by Thora Hallager.jpg, Carl Wagner, army officer File:Wilhelm Marstrand by Thora Hallager.jpg,

Wilhelm Marstrand Nicolai Wilhelm Marstrand (24 December 1810 – 25 March 1873), painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned ar ...

, painter File:PC Skovgaard by Thora Hallager.jpg,

P.C. Skovgaard Peter Christian Thamsen Skovgaard (known as P. C. Skovgaard; 4 April 1817 – 13 April 1875) was a Danish national romantic landscape painter. He is one of the main figures associated with the Golden Age of Danish Painting. He is especially known ...

, painter File:Fibiger.gif, Novelist

Mathilde Fibiger Mathilde Fibiger (13 December 1830 – 17 June 1872) was a Danish feminist, novelist, and telegraphist. Biography Mathilde Fibiger was born in Copenhagen in 1830. Her father, Captain Johan Adolph Fibiger, was an army officer; her mother was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallager, Thora 19th-century Danish photographers Danish women photographers 1821 births 1884 deaths Photographers from Copenhagen 19th-century women photographers