"Maxl Heuriger"

gelatin silver print on baryta, selenium-toned

titled, dated, numbered and signed (pencil) on verso

Martin Maxl, a lawyer and art collector, invited me to a party at a Heuriger that he described as having a magnificent view of Vienna. Excited by the prospect, I brought my 4×5 inch camera and set it up on a tripod. However, the weather took an unexpected turn and it started to rain, causing the other guests to rush inside for shelter. I stayed put, protected my camera with an umbrella and persisted with a long exposure shot of the stunning panorama of Vienna by night. Eventually the rain stopped, and I asked the host and his party to return to the garden. I opened the shutter again and – with the help of a computer-controlled flash, which produces the exact right amount of light required for a given aperture – took individual portraits of the guests at close range. This allowed me to combine many exposures on a single negative.
(Fritz Simak, aus dem Buch: Fritz Simak, Photographs in the Key of Life, Salzburg 2025, p. 315)