Divas and Lovers

The images produced by the Manasse photographic studio, published in magazines all over Europe, seethe with an erotic symbolism which is barely concealed beneath a mask of glamorous styling, elegant poses and extravagant clothing. A rediscovered cache of portraits forms this volume of images from another time and place, a golden age of cinema and cabaret in Vienna of the 1920s and 1930s. The Manasses, a husband and wife team from the Viennese beau monde, used retouching techniques to create the surreal and sometimes dark images to be found in these pages. Hungarian emigrees to Vienna, the Manasses developed a highly successful speciality in erotic photography. Photographic historian Monika Faber provides an essay examining Studio Manasse as part of the world of cinema-enthraled Vienna, while an accompanying story: "Woman as you want her" by D.H. Lawrence enhances the erotic climate of the images.