Ethnographic Photography in Scotland

1

Early History of
Photography

Page 1

Further Notes

2

Types of Camera and  Photo

Page 2

Further Notes

3

Photographic
Societies

Page 3

Further Notes

4

Professional
Photographers

Page 4

Further Notes

5

Collections of Photos and Books

Page 5

Further Notes

Other talks:    Ethnographic Postcards in Scotland

Other talks:    History of Photography

Edinburgh University, School of Literature, Language and Cultures, Celtic and Scottish Studies

2nd Year Lecture:  February 22, 2010  -  Ethnographic Photography

Ethnographic Photography in Scotland

Professional

Photographers

_________________________________

Here we look at three locations for studios  ...

Rock House Studio

Salisbury Place Studio

Princes Street Studios

... then views by a mid-19th century photographer ...

Thomas Vernon Begbie

... then views by a mid-20th century photographer:

Norward Inglis

________________________________

Rock House Studio

• Rock House was beside the steps leading up to Calton Hill from Waterloo Place, about 1/4 mile to the east of the East End of Princes Street.

• This studio was used by Hill & Adam, calotypists, in 1843-47, then by a succession of other photographers over the next hundred years.

Rock House

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services

Hill & Adamson

Rock House

1843-47

• Here are a few of the many calotype photos that have survived from the studio of Hill & Adamson at Rock House. 

• The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street has a large collection of Hill & Adamson calotypes and has published books about this collection.

D O Hill

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh Photographic Society

Newhaven Fishwives

©  Reproduced by courtesy St Andrews University Library                                                                                                             ALB6-92

The Scott Monument

©  This photograph is included with  National Galleries of Scotland permission.   See Copyright Conditions

White Horse Close

©  This photograph is included with  National Galleries of Scotland permission.   See Copyright Conditions

________________________________

Salisbury Place Studio

Kenneth McLeay  RSA

Photographic Studio:  1859-63

• Kenneth McLeay was a watercolour portrait painter who had photographic studios in Edinburgh from 1859 to 1863.  He exhibited his photos in Photographic Exhibitions in Edinburgh between 1856 and 1864.

 Kenneth McLeay

by Hill & Adamson

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services

• In a letter of 22 December 1859, written to the Photographic Society of Scotland in connection with their 4th Annual Exhibition, he lists the prices of his portraits.  

________________________________

Princes Street Studios

• Photography became well established in Edinburgh from the 1840s onwards.  Most of the early photographic studios were in Princes Street.

Edinburgh Studios  -  1840 to 1900

• Princes Street was well suited to photography.  There was an open outlook to the south towards Edinburgh Castle, so studios on the upper floors in Princes Street got the good light that was needed for photography in the early days.

• There were many tourists and local residents passing along Princes Street, who might visit the photographic studios - but not many would have been prepared to pay the high cost for photos in the early days.

• Talbot had patented his Calotype photographic process in England, and Daguerre had placed restrictions on the use of his Daguerreotype in  England, but photographers in Scotland were free to use either process.

  Cartes de Visite

  See also 'Further Notes'

  Most Edinburgh photographers started selling:

  -  cartes de visite between the late-1850s and 1900, then also

  -  cabinet prints between the late-1860s and 1900.

  Here are a few cartes de visite from Edinburgh studios:

  James Ross

  Studios: 1846 to 1870

  Cartes de visite:  Newhaven Fishwives

  • These photos of Newhaven Fishwives were set up in the studio then hand-coloured.  The result is appealing.  The photos are quite different from Hill & Adamson's photos of the fishwives taken outdoors at Newhaven.

          

  © Reproduced with acknowledgement to National Galleries of Scotland permission.

  John Ross

  Studios: 1858 to 1900

  • These are typical studio portraits taken around 1860.  Note the large dresses.  In some cases, but not here, the curtains would be used to hide a head-stand set up to prevent the sitter from moving.

      

  ©  peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

          

  ©  peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

             

  ©  peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  John Moffat

  Studios: 1853 to 1962

  Cartes de visite showing medals awarded to him

  • John Moffat added illustrations of the medals he had won to the backs of his cartes de visite.  This can be helpful in dating his cartes de visite.  Fashions can also be helpful in dating photos.  Note that the later cards often have rounded corners.

  1875-80

       

  ©   peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  1882-86

         

  ©   peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  1890-97

         

  ©   peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  From 1897

         

  ©   peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  James Howie Jun

  Cartes de visite:  20 men:  Cowgate Free Church Choir
  Cartes de visite:  42 men:  Who are they?

  • These two photos by Howie, the first taken in 1879, are unusual.  They have surprisingly large groups for small cartes de visite.  The second was taken outdoors.  Where?

   

       

  ©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to the Scottish Genealogy Society

   

    

   ©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to the author of www.cartedevisite.co.uk

   

  The Cost

  See also 'Further Notes'

• A typical charge for cartes de visite in the 1860s was about 6 shillings a dozen  - equivalent to about £25 a dozen in today's money, in 2010.

  Cabinet Prints

  See also 'Further Notes'

  Parisian Photo Co

  Studio: 1887 - 1914

  Cabinet Prints

  • I believe that all the 'Parisian Photo Co' photos below are likely to have been taken between about 1887 and 1905:

  • These photos all have backdrops, suggesting grander or more exotic surroundings than the sitter might have been accustomed to.  But they are obviously studio shots.  e.g.  where the photographer has made no attempt to hide join of the backdrop and the flooring.

  • A couple of the people in the photos are in uniform. Did these uniforms belong to the studio?  I suspect the answer is 'Yes' - at least in the case of the Fire Officer's uniform.

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  

  ©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland

  In Fire Officer's uniform

  

  ©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland

  

  ©  For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  Here is how the last photograph above was taken:

  Parisian Photo Co  -  75 Princes Street  -  Studio Interior

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services

  Harper & Smellie

  Leith Walk (1899-1908)

  and Princes Street (1902-1906)

  • The cabinet prints below suggest that their studio in Leith Walk had a backdrop and a single chair.  You could either stand beside it or sit on it!

  

  William Crooke

  1883 -1929

  • William Crook was one of Edinburgh's most prominent photographers.  He won many awards for his photography. 

  • He had studios in Princes Street from 1883 until 1929, with rather more furniture than Harper & Smellie had above.

  • The studio must have looked impressive, with its outlook to the south across Princes Street Gardens to Edinburgh Castle.

  Princes Street Studio  -  1911

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services.

  Princes Street Studio  -  1911

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services.

  E R Yerbury

  The Yerbury family had studios
   in Edinburgh 1869 - 2003

  • Several generations of the Yerbury family have had studios in Edinburgh:

  • - beginning with  E R Yerbury who had a studio at the corner of Princes Street and Hanover Street in the 1860s

  • - ending with Trevor Yerbury who had a studio in East Claremont Street and specialised in wedding photography.  His studio remained in business until 2003.

  • Here are some photos of the Yerbury family:

  Three Generations

  LEFT:           Edward Reuben Yerbury  [b.1843]

  CENTRE:      Edward Roper Yerbury    [b.1915]

  RIGHT:      Edward Reuben Yerbury     [b.1881]

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

  Edward Reuben Yerbury

   b.1843

   

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury Family.

  Edward Reuben Yerbury

   b.1881

   

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family. 

  Edward Roper Yerbury

  1915 - 1949

  Aged about three

  Photographed  by his father

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.

  Edward Roper Yerbury

  1915 - 1949

  'The Sky Pilot'

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Trevor E R Yerbury, Edinburgh

  Trevor Yerbury

  1951 -

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Trevor Yerbury.   Click here for link to web site.

  • Yerbury photographers took over the businesses of several prominent Edinburgh photographers:

  • William Crooke (1930)

  • JCH Balmain (1958)

  • Andrew Swan Watson (1958)

  • John Moffat (1962)

  • Here are some early images from the Yerbury collection, taken in and around Edinburgh.  The first was taken around 1850.  I believe that most of the others would have been taken by Balmain:

    Cramond

    

    ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

    Cramond

    

    ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

    Maule's Dept Store

    

    ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

  St Giles   - High Street, Edinburgh

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

  East End of Princes Street

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury Family.   Click here for link to web site.

  West End of Princes Street

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury Family.   Click here for link to web site.

  Elephant Parade, North Bridge

  

  ©  Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

  • Here are some photos of Edinburgh with an impressionistic feel.  They were created by Trevor and Faye Yerbury, using original polaroid material.  They were exhibited, together with some Yerbury images from 1850 to 1950, in Ocean Terminal in 2004:

  The Forth Rail Bridge

  

  ©  Trevor and Faye Yerbury, Edinburgh    

      Newhaven Lighthouse

   

  ©  Trevor and Faye Yerbury, Edinburgh

   

________________________________

Thomas Vernon Begbie

• Thomas Vernon Begbie took many photos of streets and views around Edinburgh that others ignored.

• In 1950, his collection of 451 glass plate negatives of Edinburgh was found in an attic and rescued.  Here are a few of them

The Scott Monument

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Waverley Bridge

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Leith Inner Harbour

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Leith Shore

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Canongate Tolbooth

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Whitehouse Close

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Demolition to enable Cockburn Street to be built

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Leith Wynd - leading from the Royal Mile to Leith Walk

©  City Art Centre, City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

________________________________

Norward Inglis

• Norward Inglis took still photos then, latterly, movies.  Most of his still photos were taken around the 1950s, about a century after Begbie's photos above.

  Norward Inglis

  

  ©  Copyright: Norward Inglis and peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

  • Norward's photos are high quality.  They capture a lot of detail.  Some are taken from unusual, high, positions.  Here are a few:

Princes Street

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and Barbara Simpson

Edinburgh Castle

©   Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and his daughter, Barbara Simpson

George Street

 ©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and his daughter, Barbara Simpson

Edinburgh Military Tattoo  -   1950  -  The second year of the Tattoo

©   Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and his daughter, Barbara Simpson

Holyrood Palace Gates

©   Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and his daughter, Barbara Simpson

Princes Street  -  Looking West  -  What was the occasion?

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to John Stewart, Livingstone, West Lothian, Scotland

Looking down on Dumbiedykes from Salisbury Crags

©   Reproduced with acknowledgement to Norward Inglis and his daughter, Barbara Simpson

• Photos of Dumbiedykes have attracted a lot of interest amongst people who lived there before the houses were demolished in the 1960s. 

• Here are a few more views of the area.  These are not taken by Norward Inglis:

The Scotchie, Dumbiedykes  -  1959

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services                                             Neg. A904A

Looking down on Dumbiedykes from Salisbury Crags

©  Reproduced by courtesy of Evening News.   Click here for web site details.

Clearing the Drains in Heriot Mount - 1959

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services
[Ref S1014 D]

Arthur Place -  1959

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services                                             Neg. E932F

Three workers from William Waugh Ltd, Metal Merchants   -   Late-1950s

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Jean Rae, daughter of Tom Aithie on the left of this picture

Top of Arthur Street   -  1959

©  Reproduced with acknowledgement to Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services                                             Neg. F936C

Run-away Coal Lorry at the foot of Arthur Street  -  1950s

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Ron Leckie, California, USA