Background
Born in Leipzig, she grew up in a well-to-do family as the daughter of a chemistry professor, later moving to Hanover.
Born in Leipzig, she grew up in a well-to-do family as the daughter of a chemistry professor, later moving to Hanover.
She carefully recorded the photographs she took from 1904 with her father"s 9 x 12 cm camera, noting shutter-speed, aperture, location and the names of the people photographed. Behrend"s work is archived at the Nederlands Fotomuseum. In 1930, when she started using a Zeiss Ikon Ikonta, she stopped keeping detailed records.
Some 900 negatives by Behrend are kept in the museum.
In addition to photographs of family and friends, there are views of Algeria (1905-1906), including the temple ruins at Timgad, and of her husband"s factory (1913–1915). There are also nude photographs of herself and her friends (1910-1911) at a time when she supported the German Freikörperkultur movement.