Fotovisit

Several hundred millions of Carte-de-Visites (visit cards) were produced worldwide, but most of them have been lost because they were regarded as worthless or later they could no longer be assigned to family or relatives. Although the value of a single Carte-de-Visite (CdV) is small, it gives an historical and photographic insight into the period between 1855 and 1925. With this home page I would like to bring visit card photography to a general public.

I began my collection mor than 30 years ago with a Carte-de-Visite album of my grandparents, and so my interest in historical photography was aroused, especially the CdV. My focus is mainly in CdVs from Switzerland and the collection has grown over 35’000. In the approximately 60 years during the CdV existed many hundred photographers have established, but also some have been only for a short time. Ateliers were also taken over by the sons or sold and passed under another name. There were very few female photographers. Several then thousends of negative plates could be exposed by a photographer. Togehter with the photography technology the CdV has further developed and therfore one can determine the age of a CdV fairly accurately. Other informations, such as lothing accessories, decorations  and the cadboard, also help to date a CdV

On my home page you will find very limited information on the history of photography or the Carte-de-Visite. You can learn more from the web or by using the links I have posted.
My collection includes many thousands of photographs, mainly in the format of the visit card, but also photographs in the Cabinet format, many hundred series brummagem postcards and albums for Carte-de-Visites and Cabinets. You can see a selection in the galleries. All pictures are shown in their original size and are not edited.