Fleischhacker Photo Re-do
Franziska Ganser (1869-1951) married Friedrich Fleischhacker (1858-1947) June 4, 1889 in Pamhagen, Burgenland, Austria. Two of their daughters immigrated to the United States: Katherine (Fleischhacker) Fleischhacker (1890-1957) and Franziska (Fleischhacker) Hafner (1895-1978).
Chalk Portrait
Daughter Franziska “Frances” Fleischhacker brought this chalk portrait of her parents to America. The original artwork rests under rounded glass and is framed by an ornate frame. Because her son, William “Bill” Hafner (1930-2023), resembled his Opa, Friedrich Flieschhacker, Bill inherited this heirloom.
When I made a digital copy of the photo in the Fall of 2014,1Original chalk portrait owned by William Hafner, Maplewood MN. Photographic copy made by Karrie Blees November 20, 2014. I laid the frame on the carpeted floor. Because of the position of the afternoon sun streaming in Bill’s living room windows, I had trouble with the glare from the glass. Can you see the bright light dot? That’s my mobile phone.
Looking at the back, you can see the age of the frame. We did not want to remove the backing and potentially risk damaging the photo. So, I continued to take photos through the glass. (And I’m glad that I was wearing clean socks that day!)
Digital Reproduction
After photographing the portrait, I needed help altering the image to make it reproducible. My son possessed both the skills as well as good-quality photo-editing software.2Photo editing by Samuel Blees 10 Apr 2015. He obliged me, sorted through my collection of phone photos and created a “new,” digital version.
Voila!
No more cell phone reflections. No more glare. With this new digital version, we made reproduction prints for family members.
Franziska (Ganser) and Friedrich Fleischhacker, date unknown.
SOURCES
- 1Original chalk portrait owned by William Hafner, Maplewood MN. Photographic copy made by Karrie Blees November 20, 2014.
- 2Photo editing by Samuel Blees 10 Apr 2015.