Factory worker Ernő Weisz, whose portrait appeared in Tiborc, provided Kálmán with one of her earliest subjects.
Factory worker Ernő Weisz, whose portrait appeared in Tiborc, provided Kálmán with one of her earliest subjects. His apparent proximity to the camera lens, and by extension to the viewer, carries a deeply humanistic charge. Weisz's steady eyes promise us his sympathy, and the very slight downward tilt of his head, together with the almost parted lips, suggest he has just heard his name spoken and is preparing to be introduced. Kálmán's approach casts an ironic light on what was historically perhaps the most widespread type of portrait photograph, the carte-de-visite (visiting card), which, as its name suggests, also functioned as a form of social introduction. Sitters for a carte-de-visite, however, typically considered themselves to "have a name," whereas Kálmán is precisely inviting viewers to get to know better her otherwise anonymous subject.