3 March 1856
On
3 March 1856, eleven men met at the Alexandra Hotel in Princes Street with a
view to forming a Photographic Society.
They
were Messrs Aitchison, Black, Halkett, Keith, Kinnear, MacKinlay, Moir, Ross,
Walker, Watson and Professor Macdonald.
George
Moir, who was about to be elected a Vice President of
PSS, had previously been a founder member of the Edinburgh Calotype
Club.
Horatio
Ross took the Chair, having previously corresponded
with Secretaries of London and Manchester Photographic Societies concerning
the laws and regulations which it might be expedient to adopt
5
days later …
Five
days later, a meeting was held in Ross & Thomson’s Rooms, Princes Street, on 8 March
1856, to form the Photographic Society of Scotland.
Rules
were proposed, and various alterations made to them. They were then referred to Council for further consideration.
The
following were elected:
President:
Sir David Brewster
Vice
President:
Horatio
Ross
Vice
President:
George Moir
Honorary
Treasurer: HG Watson
Honorary
Secretary: CGH Kinnear
Council:
James Black
Thomas Keith
John Cay
William Macdonald
Cosmo Innes
James Ross
TB Johnston
William Walker
The
first month
Within
one month of the Photographic Society of Scotland being founded:
-
Prince
Albert had agreed to
become Patron of the Society.
-
A
Photographic Exhibition in Manchester
was brought to the attention of Members.
They were encouraged to give their support, and arrangements were made
for forwarding photographs to the Exhibition.
-
A
Collection of Prints for the Society was announced.
Members were invited to contribute their work towards this collection, which
would belong to the Society.. Members were advised that a
Portfolio of Mounted Prints and Albums for those unmounted had been
procured.
-
The
first Lecture was given by Sir David Brewster
delivered on 8 April 1856. The
subject - Photography - which he
illustrated with diagrams and photographs.
It was agreed that copies of the address should be presented to the
photographic journals and Edinburgh Papers.
-
Publication
of the Society’s activities in the Journal of the Photographic Society
became a regular practice, with part of the annual subscriptions being put
towards supplying copies of the Journal to each Member.
Displays
of Photographs and Equipment
Displays,
from the outset were a regular feature of Monthly
Meetings. During April and May
1856:
-
James Wood, a bookseller
from Princes Street displayed collections of photographs
-
Horatio Ross displayed a
portable tent for the collodion process and specimens of prints by the
Photogalrauographic(?) process.
-
William Walker exhibited
a new portable camera made by Mr Bell of Potterow. It was described
as:
"capable of taking pictures 8 ins. Square, weighing 8 ¾ lbs. without the lens
and folding into a space 18 ins. Long by 10 broad and 2 ½ deep".
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