David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) was a painter/lithographer who became interested in photography and joined forces in the mid 1840's for four years with Robert Adamson who was a photographer using the calotype photographic process invented by Fox Talbot. Hill and Adamson produced over 3000 paper negatives consisting of portraits, landscapes and scenes of everyday life which were considered the best paper photography of that time.
I particularly loved the photographs of children and families such as "sisters, the misses Griersons" and "Sandy (or James) Linton, his boat and bairns". The documentary quality of the photos such as the "oyster woman" and the photos depicting fishermen and fisherwoman give a clear insight into a different era. I think these photos really demonstrate the art of photography in their "story telling" and I can see why Hill and Adamson were credited as true artists in their field. Having lived in Edinburgh I was also interested in the early photographs of Edinburgh such as "Mons Meg, Edinburgh Castle", "Greyfriar's churchyard" and "The Scots Monument".
Sunday 7 August 2011
Albert Sands Southworth
Albert Sands Southworth (1811-1894) was an avid daguerreotypist (daguerreotype being the first commercial successful photographic process using a silver plated cooper plate and without a negative).
Southworth and Hawes set up an early photographic firm in Boston from 1843-63 and were hailed as the first great masters of photography in America. They produced fine detailed images with a mirror like quality and their photographic portraits were considered fine art.
From studying their photographs on the internet I can understand why Marcus A Root, the contemporary Philadelphia dauerroetypist said "....their style, indeed, is peculiar to themselves; presenting beautiful effects of light and shade and giving depth and roundness together with a wonderful softness or mellowness...."
Southworth and Hawes set up an early photographic firm in Boston from 1843-63 and were hailed as the first great masters of photography in America. They produced fine detailed images with a mirror like quality and their photographic portraits were considered fine art.
From studying their photographs on the internet I can understand why Marcus A Root, the contemporary Philadelphia dauerroetypist said "....their style, indeed, is peculiar to themselves; presenting beautiful effects of light and shade and giving depth and roundness together with a wonderful softness or mellowness...."
Fox Talbot
I was pleased to get my Assignemnt 2 assessment back and my tutor helpfully suggested that I should look at some early photographer's work.
Fox Talbot (1800-1877) was a British inventor and pioneer of photography and he was the inventor of the calotype process. It was inability to draw that led him to experiment with a mechanical method of capturing an image. His experiments led him to discover the negative/positvie photographic process in the 1830's. He made a major contributions to the development of photography as an art creating images of landscapes, architectural studies, still life, portraits and plants.
From looking at his photographs on the internet I particulary like the etheral quality of his fern, plant and tree photographs.
Fox Talbot (1800-1877) was a British inventor and pioneer of photography and he was the inventor of the calotype process. It was inability to draw that led him to experiment with a mechanical method of capturing an image. His experiments led him to discover the negative/positvie photographic process in the 1830's. He made a major contributions to the development of photography as an art creating images of landscapes, architectural studies, still life, portraits and plants.
From looking at his photographs on the internet I particulary like the etheral quality of his fern, plant and tree photographs.
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