{"id":1648,"date":"2023-06-02T14:05:43","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T12:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/?p=1648"},"modified":"2023-06-20T18:02:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T16:02:10","slug":"the-first-and-only-female-photographer-at-the-dai-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/2023\/06\/02\/the-first-and-only-female-photographer-at-the-dai-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3 (1918\u20132012) \u2013 the first and only female photographer at the DAI Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3 (19.12.1918\u2013<\/strong>16.6.2012) was the first and remains the only female photographer at the DAI Athens. When the Institute was reopened after the Second World War, she worked as a professional photographer from 1954 to 1962, capturing in her photos Greek antiquities and, of course, the Institute’s excavations and finds.<\/p>\n

Youth and early career <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After studying art history, Czak\u00f3 trained to become a professional photographer at the renowned Bildarchiv Foto Marburg<\/a> (German Documentation Centre for Art History). Drawing on her expertise, she worked at the Marburg Central Art Collecting Point under the direction of Richard Hamann<\/a> in post-war Germany. This \u203acollecting point\u2039, the first one established by the American military government in the occupied zone, systematically documented paintings that had been plundered as war booty or stored in collections in order to facilitate their return to their places of origin. From autumn 1945 to 1949, Czak\u00f3 and a colleague documented and photographed 200,000 paintings in the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point<\/a>. With her extensive experience in photographing art objects, she was ideally suited for the task awaiting her in Greece.<\/p>\n

1954\u20131962 at the DAI Athens<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the days before job openings at the Institute were publicly advertised, the directors turned to acquaintances or educational institutions in search of qualified restorers or photographers. We thus do not have precise information as to how Czak\u00f3’s connection with the DAI Athens came about. Her prior acquaintanceship with Dieter Ohly (as Erika Kunze-G\u00f6tte recalls) or with Hamann might have played a part in it. Hamann not only had conducted a large-scale project for the photographic documentation of Greek monuments<\/a> in the 1920s, but in 1924 he also co-authored \u203aDie Skulpturen des Zeustempels zu Olympia\u2039 (\u203aThe Sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia\u2039)  with Ernst Buschor, the then-director of the DAI Athens (Buschor \u2013 Hamann, 1924). Since Czak\u00f3 and Ohly published a small volume on ancient gems for Buschor\u2019s 70th<\/sup> birthday, some combination of these connections might have been decisive.
As the DAI Athens slowly resumed its regular operations and excavations at the traditional research sites of Olympia, the Kerameikos, and the Heraion of Samos in 1954, Emil Kunze was able to recruit \u00bbFr\u00e4ulein Czak\u00f3\u00ab (fig. 1<\/em>) for the department.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1a: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3 takes photographs at the Heraion of Samos (1959) D-DAI-ATH-2019-10556, photographer: unknown. 1b. Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3 in the 1960s. Copyright: Ulrich Nolte, photographer: unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Czak\u00f3 was appointed to the newly created position of photographer on 1.10.1954. A \u203aphoto lab\u2039 was immediately set up in the basement of the Institute, which subsequently became her responsibility. Archival correspondence bears witness to the tedious process of importing new equipment from Germany to Athens. Czak\u00f3 also was in charge of maintaining the Institute\u2019s huge photographic archive, which already contained over 30,000 negatives, most of which were glass plates. During her tenure as the Institute\u2019s photographer, the holdings of the photo archive increased by over 6,500 photographs. All of these photographs are accessible online via iDAI.objects<\/a>. Czak\u00f3\u2019s personal authorship of photographs was recorded in the Institute’s holdings (fig. 2<\/em>) and indicated by a stamp on the back of each photo print.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 2: Photo inventory of the DAI Athens; detail from the year 1961 crediting Czak\u00f3 as the photographer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Czak\u00f3 had assistance at hand right from the start. Twenty-year-old Eleftherios Feiler, the son of the Institute\u2019s porter, who had grown up in the family\u2019s apartment in the DAI, assisted Czak\u00f3 for several hours now and then. As demand for new photographs and prints steadily grew, first he, in 1956 (shown below in a photograph taken by Czak\u00f3), and later another local employee, Anastasios (Tassos) Tsimas (fig. <\/em>3a. b.<\/em>), were hired. Czak\u00f3 in fact trained both men as photo lab assistants and photographers. Although they initially were commissioned to produce high-quality prints, they later also took photographs themselves to meet the ever-growing demand.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 3a. Eleftherios Feiler in the Institute\u2019s Photo laboratory. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3. 3b. 1983. Tassos Tsimas at his desk in the basement. Photographer: G\u00f6sta Hellner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Czako’s talent was obvious and first became more widely known in archaeological circles through the photographs that she contributed to Dieter Ohly’s aforementioned \u203aGriechische Gemmen\u2039 (at the time, Ohly was Second Director of the Institute). Vierneisel (1994, 7) aptly described her work as follows: \u00bbWhile it was still common at that time to illustrate cut stones almost exclusively with their positive, dull plaster cast, she succeeded wonderfully in capturing the fleeting image in a sparkling gem in photographs\u00ab.
Since the 1950s, the task of archaeological photographers has been to reproduce objects without injecting any interpretation. Czak\u00f3 had a special gift for reproducing objects with particularly great vividness. Gerhild H\u00fcbner (private communication with K. Sporn, January 2023) describes this gift as a special \u00bbreceptivity to form\u00ab, i.e., \u00bbthe talent to see and the ability to capture the peculiarity of the object\u00ab. Czako’s sharp eyes also enabled her to make her own observations on the coherence of scattered fragments of a statue. On her own testimony, she recognized that a kouros head exhibited in the Istanbul Museum fit fragments of a kouros in the Museum of Samos. Her conjecture was confirmed by Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt (Vierneisel 1994, 7. 34 and personal information of Gerhild H\u00fcbner to Katja Sporn; cf. also Eckstein 1962, 47. 57).
Czak\u00f3 quickly specialized in ancient sculpture. \u00bbHer aspiration was to document works of art appropriately and give them the respect they deserved\u00ab, as the archaeologist Klaus Vierneisel explained in the introduction to the catalogue of her 1994 exhibition \u00bbBlick auf Griechenland. Fotografien 1954\u20131963\u00ab (Czak\u00f3-Stresow 1994, 7). He further wrote: \u00bbFor sculpture at that time, this meant capturing the organic-plastic development of sculpture, with all its transitions and modulations, in a photograph, without any effects and ideally also while avoiding artificial lighting. This work ethic, of course, presumes artistic intuition, but also scholarly discussion with the archaeologist, if the resulting image was to achieve a high degree of authenticity.\u00ab Her method enabled her to bring even badly damaged sculptures vividly to life in photographs, making her arguably the best archaeological photographer of sculpture of her time.  <\/p>\n

The subjects of Czak\u00f3\u2019s photographs ranged from the figures of the Parthenon sculptures (fig. 4<\/em>) on the Athenian Acropolis and finds from the workshop of Pheidias in Olympia to ancient gems (Ohly [1957]) and Corinthian helmets, providing illustrations for<\/p>\n

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Fig. 4: The Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens: Metope South 1, Battle of the Centaurs, Detail. D-DAI-ATH-Akropolis-1901. Photographer Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

the works of many important Classical archaeologists (e.g. Brommer 1967). Sometimes she was credited for her work, and sometimes, as was still customary at the time, she went unmentioned.<\/p>\n

\u00bbCzakolein\u00ab (by Maria Tzannetakis) or \u00bbCzakoline,\u00ab (by Alfred Mallwitz et al.) as she was called by colleagues and friends, was well-liked by her colleagues and well-integrated into the excavation teams during campaigns. This is attested by photos of excursions taken by the scientific staff and local excavation workers and their families (fig. 5<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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Fig. 5: Shrove Monday 1960. Excursion of members of the excavation team at Olympia, including Alfred Mallwitz, Erika G\u00f6tte, the foreman Alkibiades Spiliopoulos, and his wife, Vasiliki. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the campaigns at Olympia, she made use of the darkroom (Dunkelkammer) there and developed the images she had taken daily. As Erika Kunze-G\u00f6tte recalled in an interview with K. Sporn in 2021, during the campaigns 1959\u20131960 in Olympia, when Emil Kunze sometimes fell into a long monologue after dinner with the excavation team, Ms. Czak\u00f3 was able to divert his interest with the sentence \u00bbthe photo prints should be ready by now\u00ab and bring the evening to a timely close.
Since better-paying positions in German museums threatened to lure Czak\u00f3 away, the Athens department negotiated with the DAI headquarters in Berlin at least twice over the years to secure her a higher salary in light of her exceptional expertise. In total, Czak\u00f3 remained in Greece for almost nine years. She resigned from her post at last on 31 December 1962 and returned to Germany.    <\/p>\n

Return to Germany<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1963 Czak\u00f3’s personal circumstances changed: she married the publisher Gustav Stresow, director of the famous Prestel publishing house, specializing in the arts, architecture, and photography. She changed her surname to Czak\u00f3-Stresow (fig. 6<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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Fig. 6: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3-Stresow with her husband, the publisher, and writer Gustav Stresow (left) in the 1960s. Copyright: Ulrich Nolte. Photographer: unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She remained in contact with her former colleagues, spending holidays with them in Greece, and remained involved in archaeology. In 1975, her husband edited the volume \u203aC. Hofkes-Brukker, Der Bassai-Fries \u2013 in der urspr\u00fcnglich geplanten Anordnung\u2039, for which Eva-Maria Stresow-Czak\u00f3 made new photographs. Hofkes-Brukker (1975, 6) stated: \u00bbIn her photographs, Mrs. Stresow knew how to emphasize the conceptual unity of friezes and to keep high relief sculpture legible everywhere, even in shaded areas, while foregoing impressive lighting.\u00ab
A cross-section of her work was the subject of the aforementioned exhibition \u00bbEva Maria Czak\u00f3-Stresow \u203aBlick auf Griechenland: Fotografien 1954\u20131963\u2039\u00ab, which was organized and edited in Munich in 1994 by the archaeologist and former colleague of Czak\u00f3’s, Klaus Vierneisel.<\/p>\n

Bequest at the DAI Athens <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks to the generous donation of her nephew Ulrich Nolte (son of Mr. Stresow’s sister), we gratefully received more than 800 of Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3-Stresow’s private photographs in 2019. These photographs, taken during the years that Czak\u00f3 lived in Greece, capture the landscapes, nature, and people of Greece, documenting this bygone era. These photographs \u2013 her legacy \u2013 will also be accessible via iDAI.objects in the near future.
For now, the following selection of images from our photo archive and from her bequest (fig. 7\u201313), some of which derive from research sites of the DAI Athens and others from Czak\u00f3\u2019s travels, give insight into the impressive range and artistic skill of her oeuvre. <\/p>\n

Excavation sites of the DAI Athens<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kerameikos<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fig. 7: Kerameikos, Gravestele of Korallion, detail; D-DAI-ATH-2019-10320. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olympia<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fig. 8: Olympia, View from the Stadium through the arched entrance to the Altis ‘the Sacred Grove’; D-DAI-ATH-2019-10250. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
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Fig. 9: Illyrian-type helmet of bronze, right cheek flap with ram’s head, Olympia Inv. no. B 4667. D-DAI-ATH-Olympia-5336. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Samos<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fig. 10: View of the Heraion of Samos in the 1950s. D-DAI-ATH-2019-10525. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
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Fig. 11: Statuette of a kneeling youth made of ivory from the Heraion of Samos, Location: Samos, Vathy, Arch. Mus. Inv. no. E 88. D-DAI-ATH-Samos-03325. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rural Greece 1950s<\/em><\/strong>\u20131960s<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fig. 12: On Skyros in the 1950s\u20131960s; D-DAI-ATH-2019- 10606. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
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Fig. 13: Elis, a straw hut and transport saddle in the 1950s; D-DAI-ATH-2019-10281. Photographer: Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Works cited and further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brommer 1967
F. Brommer, Die Metopen des Parthenon<\/a>. Katalog und Untersuchung (Mainz 1967)<\/p>\n

Buschor \u2013 Hamann 1924
E. Buschor \u2013 R. Hamann, Die Skulpturen des Zeustempels zu Olympia<\/a> (Marburg 1924)<\/p>\n

Czak\u00f3-Stresow 1994
E.-M. Czak\u00f3-Stresow, Blick auf Griechenland<\/a>: Fotografien 1954 \u20131963 (M\u00fcnchen 1994)<\/p>\n

Hofkes-Brukker 1975
C. Hofkes-Brukker, Der Bassai\u2013Fries<\/a>: in der urspr\u00fcnglich geplanten Anordnung (M\u00fcnchen 1975)<\/p>\n

Ohly 1975
D. Ohly, Griechische Gemmen<\/a>: Aufgenommen von Eva Maria Czak\u00f3 (Wiesbaden 1975).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eva-Maria Czak\u00f3 (19.12.1918\u201316.6.2012) was the first and remains the only female photographer at the DAI Athens. When the Institute was reopened after the Second World War, she worked as a professional photographer from 1954 to 1962, capturing in her photos … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":1651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,123,126,131,32,273,124,128,232,241,68,71,129,67,34,122,272,69,244,125,274,236,130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brommer-frank","category-buschor-ernst","category-czako-stresow-eva-maria","category-czako-eva-maria","category-dai-staff","category-feiler-eleftherios","category-hamann-richard","category-hofkes-brukker-charline","category-hubner-gerhild","category-kunze-gotte-erika","category-kunze-emil","category-mallwitz-alfred","category-nolte-ulrich","category-ohly-dieter","category-people","category-photographer","category-schuchhardt-walter-herwig","category-spiliopoulos-alkibiades","category-spiliopoulou-vasiliki-alkina","category-stresow-gustav","category-tsimas-tassos","category-tzannetaki-maria-nee-rangoussi","category-vierneisel-klaus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2290,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions\/2290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dainst.blog\/people-at-the-dai-athens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}