Dora Kalmus
Dora Kalmus
Austrian, 1881–1963
Person TypePerson
Skip to main content
BiographyULAN: At the beginning of the 20th century, Dora Kallmus began her career as a photographer, under the name Madame D'Ora. In 1907, she opened a studio in Vienna, together with Arthur Benda, who took care of the technical part of the photography. Her early work shows the influence Viennese Art Nouveau, and in 1917, Brenda designed a lens that gave a soft focus effect and this became the trademark of her work until after World War II. From 1953 to 1955, she began taking sharp focus images, typically portraits. After this time she turned her subject matter to the Paris slaughterhouses, taking haunting still lifes of animal parts.