Edinburgh Photographic Society

1908

 Open Exhibition

Exhibition Entries

The 1908 Open Exhibition  was held from 22 February until 8 March in the EPS Premises at 38 Castle Street.  There was no formal opening on account of influenza and other causes.

The EPS Transactions, in March 1908, reported:

"There is nothing, perhaps, of an outstanding nature, either good or bad, but the work exhibited is generally of a high standard.

The phenomenally bad summer which we experienced last year has caused s shrinkage in the exhibits, but this is by no means an unmixed evil, for as a result it has been unnecessary to 'sky'* pictures as an alternative to rejecting them, with the consequent grumbling on the part of their owners."

*  The practice of 'skying' pictures referred to hanging them very high on the wall where they could hardly be seen.

The number of Sections and Classes of picture was greater than in recent years, this year including a Section for Photographs in Colour.  See the list of award winners at the end of this page.

Exhibition Entertainment

Entertainment was provided during the exhibition.  The tradition of giving lectures of a popular nature on each of the Saturday evenings continued, but this year there were also six evenings when the lantern slides were shown:

Art Union

In recent years, the Art Union Draw has been a feature of the exhibition, with the prize-winners receiving a selection of prints from the exhibition.  However, there there appears to have been no Art Union draw in 1908.

Exhibition Judges

Judges for the exhibition were:

-  Martin Hardie RSA

-  J Craig Annan

-  William Crooke

Section I  -  Class A

Portraiture

Open to All

Honourable

Mention

Eric Allan Rendall, Edinburgh

"Portrait of Mr JL"

Oscar Hardie, Chislehurst

"Portrait Group"

Section II

EPS Members Only

Medals

J D Paterson, Edinburgh

"At the Quay"

J D Paterson, Edinburgh

"On the Foreshore"

Honourable Mentions

J D Paterson, Edinburgh

"The Last 'Rake'"

Section III

EPS Members Only

Restricted to those who have not previously gained a Medal

at the Society's Exhibition

Medals

D W Thompson, Edinburgh

"The Harvest of the Sea"

James A Angus, Edinburgh

"Across the Harbour"

Honourable Mentions

A D E Mathison, Edinburgh

"Haunts o' Jack Howieson"

Louis C Login, Edinburgh

"Dusk"

David A Christian, Edinburgh

"In His Study"

Section IV

Lantern Slides

in sets of four

Medals

Graystone Bird, Bath

No 187 (2)

Richard Hancock, Stechford

No 190 (3)

Alfred J Loughton, Southwell

No 194 (1)

Honourable Mentions

George M Aikman, Edinburgh

No 177 (2)

Thomas Carlyle, Paisley

No 181 (4)

G Suter, Loughton

No 191 (3)

J C McKechnie, Edinburgh

No 197 (1)

Section V

Photographs in Colour

in sets of four

Medals

Arthur W Walburn,
West Hartlepool

"A Fruit Study" (Autochrome)

Questions

Medals Awarded to

Andrew Paterson (Inverness)

Andrew Paterson

I see that the recently launched Andrew Paterson Collection web site refers to and illustrates EPS Medals awarded for portraiture to Andrew Paterson in 1908 and 1920.

 I have two questions:

Questions

Q1.  How can I  reconcile

(a) the Medal awarded by EPS  to Andrew Paterson in 1908 and illustrated on the Andrew Paterson Collection web site with

(b)   the Medals that I have listed above***?

 ***  I believe that I took these details from contemporary editions of Transactions of EPS and The British Journal of Photography.

Q2.  Was the Inverness photographer and Medal winner, Andrew Paterson related to the EPS Member and Medal winner, J D Paterson, listed above?

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  July 28, 2013

Reply

1.

John Hadden

Edinburgh

Thank you to John Hadden for helping to solve Q1 above.

John wrote:

Q1.

1920 Medal

"Page 9 of the 'Paterson's Inverness Portraits' magazine shows two medal images.   However, were these two images, perhaps, of the same medal, but taken from opposite sides to allow all of the edge writing to be viewed." 

1908 Medal

"The image of a letterhead  page 9 of the magazine lists  'Higher Honours for Portraiture' awarded to Andrew Paterson, including 'Scottish National, Edinburgh, 1908' and Edinburgh, 1920'.

So, was the 1908 award from a different organisation than EPS? Was it, perhaps, related to the Scottish National Exhibition at Edinburgh in 1908?

John Hadden, Edinburgh:  July 28, 2013 (2 emails)

Reply

2.

Adrian Harvey

Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Thank you to Adrian Harvey for responding to the two questions above.  Adrian's answers to Q1 are consistent with the suggestions made above by John Hadden.

Adrian wrote:

Q1.

1920 Medal

"The list of  23 Awards, Honours and Medals  proudly displayed on Andrew Paterson's stationery, was the only record we had of his achievements for a long time.

Then we received the photographs of the EPS medal in its case. (It is gold by the way).  It seems to be the 1920 award, as inscribed on its bottom edge.

 The two photographs in the magazine are, in fact, of the same Medal.  It has been photographed from both sides to show both Andrew Paterson's name and the category, Portraiture.

The case inlay has the words Alex Kirkwood & Son, Medalists, 9 St. James Square, Edinburgh. Est. 1825? 

On the face of the medal, bottom left is 'A. Kirkwood & Son SC' and on the right there is wording that I can't quite make out.  it looks like:   'A. HOPE DEL.'  Maybe you know of this."

Q2.

J D Paterson

"J.D. Paterson would not have been a close family member (descendant or sibling) to Andrew, but that's not to say he isn't related somewhere. His older brother, after all, lived in Glasgow."

Adrian Harvey, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland:  July 28, 2013