James Anderson (photographer)

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James Anderson (born March 11, 1813 in Blencarn ( Cumberland ) as Isaac Atkinson , † February 27, 1877 in Rome ) was a British-Italian photographer .

life and work

Isaac Atkinson studied painting in Paris in 1838, moved to Rome and called himself James Anderson from then on. In 1845 he signed the guest book of Caffè Greco as a “professional photographer” with the address “Fuori Porta del Popolo n. 6”, where he owned exhibition rooms. In the beginning he made " calotypes " with waxed paper negatives using the technique of William Henry Fox Talbot , from which he could copy positives in print run. He had to expose for hours to take a picture of " Moses " by Michelangelo in the dark transept of S. Pietro in Vincoli.

He later used glass plates that had to be coated on the spot with a wet, photosensitive collodion emulsion before recording . The bookstore Spithöver, Piazza di Spagna , sold his city and landscape views, photographs of ancient buildings, sculptures, reliefs and paintings by great masters as far as England and the United States. In 1862 he showed his works at the World Exhibition in London.

James Anderson was married to Maria De Mutis, who had four children. Domenico, the eldest, (1854–1938) took over the business after the death of his father. In 1895 he patented a process for producing color photos. In 1900 he took part in the World Exhibition in Paris with reproductions of paintings and ancient frescoes, which earned him the coveted gold medal. From 1901 onwards he recorded the frescoes of the Sixtina , partly in color, on a sliding wooden frame with the help of reflectors for daylight .

The Anderson company was continued by the third generation of the family until the 1950s. In 1960, 40,000 glass negatives came to the Fratelli Alinari Museum in Florence.

Works

  • The Marcus column on Piazza Colonna in Rome, photographs by D. Anderson, Rome, in: Eugen Petersen (ed.), Munich 1896.
  • Michelangelo, Siebenzig panels after watercolors and engravings, as well as after original photos by Domenico Anderson, in: Ernst Steinmann (Ed.), Die Sistinische Kapelle, Munich 1905
  • University of Erlangen, Institute for Classical Archeology and Collection of Antiquities, Photo Archive

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Maria Antonella Pelizzari, Photography and Italy, London 2011, p. 50
  2. ^ John Murray, A Handbook of Rome and its Environs, London 1888, p. 18

Web links

Commons : James Anderson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Anderson, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Atkinson, Isaac (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Italian photographer
DATE OF BIRTH March 11, 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH Blencarn ( Cumberland )
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1877
Place of death Rome