In Sunshine and in Shadow
- D. O. Hill and his daughter, c1843 from Flickr Commons
Between 1843 and 1847, Edinburgh artist David Octavius Hill and his partner Robert Adamson, an engineer from St. Andrews, created thousands of photographic prints in a variety of styles, using the technique invented only a few years earlier by William Henry Fox Talbot.
Their iconic collaboration was cut short by the early death of Adamson, but in four dramatic years they produced some 3000 images and laid the foundations of modern photography. Their calotype prints have been preserved in many galleries and libraries, principally in the Scottish National Photography Collection much of which can be viewed on the Scottish National Galleries website and also on Flickr.
On this site you can find a very brief account of the scientific process involved in making a calotype and a few excerpts of a work in progress whose final shape is not yet decided. I’m also including some useful links and references.
Early Scottish Photography Online
Scottish National Galleries
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
St. Andrews University Library Photographic Archive
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollection/Photographiccollection/
The Disruption Painting (University of Glasgow Library) http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/disruptionpicture/
Edinphoto
http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/index.htm
Scottish Society for the History of Photography
http://www.sshop.org.uk/
Anyone with an interest in D.O. Hill should beg borrow or buy a copy of The Personal Art of David Octavius Hill by Sara Stevenson, a seminal work and also highly readable.
Pingback: An Alumnus Chronicle | Saint Andrews A-Z
Pingback: An Alumnus Alphabet | Saint Andrews A-Z