Olga Solaris (1896-1969) together with her husband Adjoran Wlassics (1893-1946), started their photo studio (Manassé Studio) in 1920, shortly after they got married. Both were born in Hungary.
After their marriage they became part of Vienna’s high society, yet very little is known about their lives, education and training. They operated under various names, including Wlasics (the first name of the studio), WOG (in their Berlin studio) and Manassé-Ricoll (after the studio in Vienna was operated by an associate). Olga seems to have been the one interested in the nude photography. Atelier Manassé exhibited at the 1st International Salon of Nude Photography in Paris in 1933.
They used retouching techniques to create surreal and noir images. This special atmosphere does apply perfectly in terms of fetish related photos, built together in a special collection one could almost conclude Manassé was involved in fetish photography. The collections are connected to themes like: Fetish in Fashion, Lingerie, Stockings, Smoking. Interesting for example is the album Objectivism, woman reduced into small objects and handled by (mostly) male persons, so you can see a female caught in a bird cage, or a female being thrown into a cup of tea.
In 1934, an entire edition of Muskete, a humorous magazine known for its caricature and pictorial jokes, was confiscated by Austrian censors. The Wlassics had failed to remove in the darkroom all traces of pubic hair on their nude cover photo. The Wlassics went back to their studio and amended the photo, and the next month the magazine was republished without issue.
Manassé studio was run at first under the name Wlassic but this was changed into Manassé real soon. In 1935 they started a second atelier in Bukarest with the name WOG (Wlassics/Olga/Geschke), and a third atelier in Berlin. Around 1938 they sold their business to Josef Cebin. Ajordan died in 1947 and Olga opened a new atelier under her husbands name in Vienna. She got married again with photographer Hans Rothen, who was running a photostudio in Baden. Olga died in 1969 in Vienna.
Styling, staging and photographic work was handled by Olga. She created the glamorous Manassé vision in their small but dazzling apartment, which also served as their studio in Vienna’s city center. The rooms and reception area were filled with lavish furnishings—bearskin rugs, Baroque furniture, tapestries, gilded mirrors, paintings and Greek pillars used as flower stands—which often appeared as backgrounds or props.
Adorján handled the artistic corrections and montages. He devoted a remarkable amount of time and ingenuity to perfecting techniques— primarily retouching, painting and overlaying images—to enhance Olga’s photographs.”
Kristine Somerville in her article Darkroom Alchemy: The Photographic Art of Studio Manassé at ResearchGate
See also: Fine Nudes, Surreal Visions, Lingerie, Masks and Smoking
Vintage Fetish & Fashion 