Mary Steen

Not to be confused withMary Stein.

Mary Steen
Born	28 October 1856 Denmark
Died	7 April 1939(1939-04-08)(aged 82) Copenhagen
Nationality	Danish
Occupation	photographer

Mary Dorothea Frederica Steen(28 October 1856 – 7 April 1939) was aDanish photographerandfeminist.At the age of 28, she opened a studio inCopenhagenwhere she specialized in indoor photography. She later becameDenmark's first female court photographer, working not only with the Danish royal family but, at the invitation ofPrincess 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 betweenAarhusandRandersinJutland,Steen was the daughter of Niels Jensen Steen, a schoolteacher, and Caroline Kirstine Petersen.In her late teens, she moved toCopenhagenwhere 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 inSwedenand then with a photographer in Copenhagen.

Professional career

Mary Steen: Queen Victoria and Princess Beatrice, Windsor Castle (1895)

In 1884, at the age of 28, she opened her own photographic studio onAmagertorvin the centre of Copenhagen.At the1888 Nordic Exhibitionshe won a silver medal for her photographs of both royalty and ordinary citizens in their homes, and she also exhibited at the1893 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'sVesterbrogadeare among the first showing people inside their own homes.

The indoor photographs inEt minde fra Fredensborg i fjor(Last year's memories of Fredensborg) are among the first shots to be published in the magazineIllustreret Tidende.

In 1888, she became the first female court photographer forPrincess Alexandrawho was to marry Great Britain'sEdward VII.Around 1895, Princess Alexandra invited her toLondonwhere she photographed members of the royal family, includingQueen VictoriaatWindsor Castle.

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 theDanish Photographers Association.She was also active in the Danish Women's Society (Dansk Kvindesamfund) where she sat on the board from 1889 to 1892. Together withJulie Laurberg,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 toGermanyandVienna.

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 memoirsByen 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.'"

See also

• Photography in Denmark
• History of photography

Sources

This article draws heavily onMary Steen from Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon.

External Links include:Photography now article:,National Portrait Gallery:Mary Steen - National Portrait Gallery,Europeana Collections Article:Mary Steen,Royal Collection Trust Article:Mary Steen (1856–1939)