New Findings on the Life and Work of Franjo Pommer, the First Resident Photographer in Zagreb

U ovom su radu na jednom mjestu izložene dosadašnje, a pridodane su i neke nove spoznaje vezane uz rad fotografa Franje Pommera. Osim što je ostao zabilježen kao prvi zagrebački rezidentni fotografski majstor te autor prvoga zaokruženog fotografskog projekta zamišljenog i izvedenog u Hrvatskoj, značajan je i po uvođenju određenih noviteta u standardnu fotografsku praksu. Tekst u prvom dijelu donosi dopunjeni pregled Pommerove biografije nastao na osnovi proučavanja arhivskog gradiva i periodike, a u drugom se, analizirajući sačuvane primjerke, osvrće na tehniku izrade fotografija i formate snimki koje je majstor u svome radu koristio, precizno ih određujući te usklađujući nazivlje sa suvremenom terminologijom.In the history of Croatian photography Franjo Pommer is documented not only on account of the quality of his photographic work, but also for being Zagreb’s first resident photographer. His Upper Town studio located in today’s Kuševićeva Street was the oldest photographic studio in Zagreb, active from 1854 at the latest. In May of the said year Pommer is recorded as its owner alongside photographer Joseph Kallain, while the following year the local press mentioned him as an independent artisan who photographed distinguished Croatian writers, whose photo portraits accompanied by their biographies Pommer planned to offer for sale to the Croatian public. The said news report dated August 1855 represents the terminus post quem non for the opening of the first photographic studio in Zagreb, although there is a possibility of Pommer’s autonomous activity in the same studio already during the second half of 1854. Due to the high quality of his photographs and his continuing interest for the novelties in the field of photographic technology, over the following two and a half decades Pommer earned the status of one of the most distinguished photographers in Zagreb, a reputation he would maintain until his death in 1879. Pommer’s photographic activity in Zagreb can be divided in three phases: the first, datable in the 1850s, is characterized by large-format prints on salted paper; the second, mature phase is distinguished by the prevalence of albumen prints of carte-de-viste format, and finally the third, late phase roughly corresponds to the period from his relocation to a new studio until his death, during which he introduced cabinet-format photographs and carbon prints or chromotypes. In the present article the author precisely defines photographic processes used in the master’s work through the analysis of preserved prints and through the use of contemporary photography terminology