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| 470 clergymen who founded the Free Church of Scotland |
The Scottish National galleries are showing an exhibition of the work of Scottish
photography pioneers,
Robert Adamson and David Hill – ‘Scottish Photography pioneers, A
Perfect Chemistry. Fisherfolk of Newhaven,’
27th
May to 1st October 2017, TE SCOTTISH PORTRAIT GALLERIES, Queen St, Edinburgh.
It has taken others overseas to
recognise the work of these Scottish pioneers in photography. These two world
renowned pioneers are mostly unknown in Scotland and are yet more reminders of
the neglect of Scotland’s heritage.
The Museum of Modern Art New York put on an
exhibition Photography1930 – at the beginning of the show Hill and Adamson had
pride of place as Photography pioneers. In 1989 The Huntarian Glasgow staged another exhibition of Hill and Adamson’s
work, which came over from Saskatoon Canada, where it had been acclaimed.
The Scottish
galleries hold the biggest collection of their work in the world, yet only
exhibit their work every 15 years. In the 1840s Hill and Adamson were partners
in the new science of Photography. Adamson portraits of clergymen documented
the disruption in the Kirk with the Free church of Scotland. They worked in
Rock house, Calton hill, producing portraits and also images of the Forth
estuary and coast.
In the 1990s
the Royal High school was considered for a new Scottish National Photography gallery – to include Annans, Gillanders, Calum Colvin and others.
**Scottish Artist David
Hill 1802 – 1870),
landscape painter
He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the
photographer Robert Adamson
(1843 - 1847) pioneer photographer. He learned lithography
at the school of Design Edinburgh. His landscape paintings exhibited Institution
for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland and he established Scottish
Academy1829 with Henry Cockburn.
Pioneer Photographer Robert Adamson
(1821–1848) pioneer photographer at Hill & Adamson. Best known for his work
with artist David Hill at his photographic studio Rock House Calton hill. Hill
and Adamson were commissioned in 1843 to make a group portrait of the 470
clergymen who founded the Free Church of Scotland. Hill had desired to make
photographic portraits of the founders as reference material.
Adamson’s collaboration with Hill, who provided
skill in composition and lighting, and Adamson’s dexterity with the camera,
proved extremely successful. They used the calotype process, and produced a
wide range of portraits depicting well-known Scots.
They photographed Fife landscapes, urban
scenes, the Scott Monument under construction;
the fishermen of Newhaven and the fishwives who
carried the fish in creels the 3 miles (5 km) uphill to the city of
Edinburgh to sell them round the doors, with their cry of “Caller Herrin”
They produced groundbreaking "action"
photographs of soldiers and two priests walking side by side.
They produced some 3000 calotypes of mostly
portraits within 5 years, 1843 – 1847.
Adamson died unmarried on 14 January 1848, at the
age of 26.
In 1851, the works of Hill & Adamson's appeared
at The Great Exhibition.
It wasn't until 1872 that their work was
rediscovered. In 1905, 1912, and 1914, some of their works appeared in Camera
Work. There were also several New York City exhibits at Alfred Stiegiltz’s 291
art gallery and at the National arts club.
Calotype or talbotype
is an early Photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot using paper
coated with silver iodide. The term calotype comes from the Greek καλός
(kalos), "beautiful", and τύπος (tupos), "impression".
