Photographer Mary Steen (1856-1939)
Mary Steen, self portrait, 1889.
Emperor Nicholas II and empress Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova with mempers of European imperial families, 1896. Photo by Mary Steen.
Marie Luplau in her studio, 1885. Photo by Mary Steen/Det Kgl. Bibliotek.
Emilie Mundt (facing the camera) and her partner Marie Luplau (in profile), 1885. Photo by Mary Steen/Det Kgl. Bibliotek.
Mary Steen (1856-1939)
Mary Dorothea Frederica Steen (1856-1939) was a Danish photographer and feminist. At the age of 28, she opened a portrait studio on Amagertorv in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. At the 1888 Nordic Exhibition, she won a silver medal for her photographs of both royalty and ordinary citizens in their homes, and she also exhibited at the 1893 World Exhibition in Chicago. In 1891, she was the first woman on the board of the Danish 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 with Julie Laurberg, she photographed the leading figures in the Danish women’s movement. Mary Steen photographed the lesbian feminist couple Emilie Mundt and Marie Luplau in their studio in 1885. The couple is know for the private art school for women they ran in Copenhagen from 1886 to 1913.
Mary Steen had a thriving business making small portraits. She later became Denmark’s first female court photographer, working not only with the Danish royal family but also with the British royal family and the Russian emperor. Around 1895, Princess Alexandra invited her to London, where she photographed members of the royal family, including Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. Mary Steen shared her home with a fellow photographer, Miss Torp. As a result of growing deafness, Mary closed her studio in 1918.
In 1924, Mary met painter Olga Meisner-Jensen (1887-1949), and they entered into a loving relationship that lasted until Mary died in 1939. The couple had a large circle of friends and a summer villa in Rungsted on the coast north of Copenhagen.