Mannerheim as Photographer, by Eric Enno Tamm

Gustaf Mannerheim practicing photography in Finland just before departing on his secret military mission to China.

"One of the riches treasures that Gustaf Mannerheim brought back from his journey along the Silk Road from 1906 to 1908 is his very considerable collection of photographs. The pictures contain a huge quantity of information, and the collection amounts to a colourful reportage of a bygone world and of peoples known to few Westerners at the time.

As a military intelligence officer, Mannerheim saw the camera simply as a tool. He would use a camera when appropriate, but photography was not one of his enduring hobbies. He likely first became acquainted with photography as an intelligence gathering technique at military academy in St. Petersburg, and he later photographed horses that he procured for the Imperial Stable. In the 1890’s, photography was also a novelty in vogue among the aristocracy and bourgeoisie of St. Petersburg, a fad that Mannerheim would have been familiar with. 

For his secret mission to China, Mannerheim bought a state-of-the-art Ernemann Klapp and a spare camera, which used the same plate-glass system. Ten days before departing for China, he visited his family at Björnholmen, a villa just outside Helsinki, where he practiced his technique. “Gustaf photographed everything and everyone, he is so eager to learn enough,” his sister Sophie wrote about the visit."

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Sur le Maréchal Mannerheim et sur le même blog:

http://pocombelles.over-blog.com/2018/12/chaque-homme-dans-le-rang-monte-la-garde-de-la-patrie-marechal-mannerheim.html