Lost in the Blur: The Rediscovery of Betti Mautner’s Photographic Legacy
Presentation Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2026 5:08 AM
Description
This paper focuses on the life and work of the Austrian-British émigré photographer Betti Mautner. Her photographic work reflects the rich cultural currents of early 20th-century Vienna and the artistic movement of Pictorialism. Exhibiting internationally, her promising career was disrupted by political persecution and exile to the UK in 1938 due to rising antisemitism. Despite her membership at the Royal Photographic Society and contributions to Kraszna-Krausz’s Focal Press photo guide series, Betti Mautner struggled to gain greater prominence in Britain's photography scene. Like many Jewish women artists of her era, her work remains underrepresented. Most of her photographs were discarded after her death, with only a few surviving prints preserved in the Hyman Collection and in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Stefanie Pirker, M.A., M.Sc. (b. 1992, Kitzbühel, Austria) is an independent photo historian and curator currently based in London. She has collaborated on exhibitions and publication projects with institutions such as FOTOHOF, the Isokon Gallery, MuseumsEtc, and Schloss Bruck in Lienz. Pirker lectures on the history of photography and photographic practice at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Northern Illinois University, and the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. Her research interests include the history of photography, exile and migration studies, as well as the analysis and contextualization of photographic materials.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Pirker, Stefanie, "Lost in the Blur: The Rediscovery of Betti Mautner’s Photographic Legacy" (2026). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day. 11.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2026/schedule/11
Lost in the Blur: The Rediscovery of Betti Mautner’s Photographic Legacy
This paper focuses on the life and work of the Austrian-British émigré photographer Betti Mautner. Her photographic work reflects the rich cultural currents of early 20th-century Vienna and the artistic movement of Pictorialism. Exhibiting internationally, her promising career was disrupted by political persecution and exile to the UK in 1938 due to rising antisemitism. Despite her membership at the Royal Photographic Society and contributions to Kraszna-Krausz’s Focal Press photo guide series, Betti Mautner struggled to gain greater prominence in Britain's photography scene. Like many Jewish women artists of her era, her work remains underrepresented. Most of her photographs were discarded after her death, with only a few surviving prints preserved in the Hyman Collection and in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Stefanie Pirker, M.A., M.Sc. (b. 1992, Kitzbühel, Austria) is an independent photo historian and curator currently based in London. She has collaborated on exhibitions and publication projects with institutions such as FOTOHOF, the Isokon Gallery, MuseumsEtc, and Schloss Bruck in Lienz. Pirker lectures on the history of photography and photographic practice at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Northern Illinois University, and the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. Her research interests include the history of photography, exile and migration studies, as well as the analysis and contextualization of photographic materials.