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| image = Hill & Adamson composite.jpg
| image = Hill & Adamson composite.jpg
| image_size = 250
| image_size = 250
| caption = Composite photograph of Hill (left) and Adamson, both circa 1845
| caption = Composite photograph of Hill (left) and Adamson, both {{Circa|1845}}
| formation = 1843
| formation = 1843
| extinction = 1848
| dissolved = 1848
| type = <!-- [[Governmental organization|GO]], NGO, [[Intergovernmental organization|IGO]], [[International nongovernmental organization|INGO]], etc -->
| type = <!-- [[Governmental organization|GO]], NGO, [[Intergovernmental organization|IGO]], [[International nongovernmental organization|INGO]], etc -->
| purpose = Photography studio, producing [[salt print]]s from [[calotype]] negatives
| purpose = Photography studio, producing [[salt print]]s from [[calotype]] negatives
| headquarters =
| headquarters =
| coords = {{Coord|55.954361|-3.185335}}
| coords = {{Coord|55.954361|-3.185335}}
| key_people = [[David Octavius Hill]] <br /> [[Robert Adamson (photographer)|Robert Adamson]]
| key_people = {{ubl|[[David Octavius Hill]]|[[Robert Adamson (photographer)|Robert Adamson]]}}
| affiliations = [[David Brewster]]
| affiliations = [[David Brewster]]
| name = Hill & Adamson
| name = Hill & Adamson
| location = Rock House on [[Calton Hill]], [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| location = Rock House on [[Calton Hill]], [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
}}
}}
In 1843 painter [[David Octavius Hill]] joined engineer [[Robert Adamson (photographer)|Robert Adamson]] to form Scotland's first photographic studio.<ref>''Union List of Artist Names''</ref> During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, '''Hill & Adamson''' produced "the first substantial body of self-consciously artistic work using the newly invented medium of photography."<ref name="Daniel">Daniel, Malcolm (2004). ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History''.</ref> Watercolorist John Harden, on first seeing Hill & Adamson's [[calotype]]s in November 1843, wrote, "The pictures produced are as [[Rembrandt]]'s but improved, so like his style & the oldest & finest masters that doubtless a great progress in Portrait painting & effect must be the consequence."<ref name="Daniel" />
'''Hill & Adamson''' was the first photography studio in Scotland, set up by painter [[David Octavius Hill]] and engineer [[Robert Adamson (photographer)|Robert Adamson]] in 1843.<ref>''Union List of Artist Names''</ref> During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first substantial body of self-consciously artistic work using the newly invented medium of photography."<ref name="Daniel">Daniel, Malcolm (2004). ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History''.</ref> Watercolorist John Harden, on first seeing Hill & Adamson's [[calotype]]s in November 1843, wrote, "The pictures produced are as [[Rembrandt]]'s but improved, so like his style & the oldest & finest masters that doubtless a great progress in Portrait painting & effect must be the consequence."<ref name="Daniel" />


== Free Church of Scotland ==
== Free Church of Scotland ==
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[[File:Rock House, Calton Hill.jpg|thumb|left|Rock House was home to Hill & Adamson's studio]]
[[File:Rock House, Calton Hill.jpg|thumb|left|Rock House was home to Hill & Adamson's studio]]
<!--This section incorporates content copied from [[David Octavius Hill]]-->
<!--This section incorporates content copied from [[David Octavius Hill]]-->
Their collaboration, with Hill providing skill in composition and lighting, and Adamson considerable sensitivity and dexterity in handling the camera, proved extremely successful, and they soon broadened their subject matter. Adamson's studio, "Rock House",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rockhouse-edinburgh.com/|title=Rock House|website=Rock House}}</ref> on the Calton Hill in [[Edinburgh]] became the centre of their photographic experiments. Using the [[calotype]] process, they produced a wide range of portraits depicting well-known Scottish luminaries of the time, including [[Hugh Miller]], both in the studio and in outdoors settings, often amongst the elaborate tombs in [[Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh|Greyfriars Kirkyard]].<ref name="Michaelson" />
Their collaboration, with Adamson providing skill in composition and lighting, and Hill considerable sensitivity and dexterity in handling the camera, proved extremely successful, and they soon broadened their subject matter. Adamson's studio, "Rock House",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rockhouse-edinburgh.com/|title=Rock House|website=Rock House}}</ref> on the Calton Hill in [[Edinburgh]] became the centre of their photographic experiments. Using the [[calotype]] process, they produced a wide range of portraits depicting well-known Scottish luminaries of the time, including [[Hugh Miller]], both in the studio and in outdoors settings, often amongst the elaborate tombs in [[Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh|Greyfriars Kirkyard]].<ref name="Michaelson" />


They photographed local and [[Fife]] landscapes and urban scenes, including images of the Scott Monument under construction in Edinburgh. As well as the great and the good, they photographed ordinary working folk, particularly the fishermen of [[Newhaven, Edinburgh|Newhaven]], and the fishwives who carried the fish in [[Creel (basket)|creels]] the 3&nbsp;miles (5&nbsp;km) uphill to the city of Edinburgh to sell them round the doors, with their cry of "[[Caller Herrin'|Caller herrin]]" (fresh [[herring]]). They produced several groundbreaking "action" photographs of soldiers and – perhaps their most famous photograph – two priests walking side by side.<ref name="Michaelson" />
They photographed local and [[Fife]] landscapes and urban scenes, including images of the Scott Monument under construction in Edinburgh. As well as the great and the good, they photographed ordinary working folk, particularly the fishermen of [[Newhaven, Edinburgh|Newhaven]], and the fishwives who carried the fish in [[Creel (basket)|creels]] the 3&nbsp;miles (5&nbsp;km) uphill to the city of Edinburgh to sell them round the doors, with their cry of "[[Caller Herrin'|Caller herrin]]" (fresh [[herring]]). They produced several groundbreaking "action" photographs of soldiers and – perhaps their most famous photograph – two priests walking side by side.<ref name="Michaelson" />
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Their partnership produced around 3,000 different photographs, but was cut short after only four years due to the ill health and untimely death of Adamson in 1848. Hill became less active and abandoned the studio after several months, but continued to sell prints of the photographs and use them as an aid for composing paintings.<ref name="Michaelson" />
Their partnership produced around 3,000 different photographs, but was cut short after only four years due to the ill health and untimely death of Adamson in 1848. Hill became less active and abandoned the studio after several months, but continued to sell prints of the photographs and use them as an aid for composing paintings.<ref name="Michaelson" />


They had an assistant, [[Jessie Mann (photographer)|Jessie Mann]], who worked with them for at least three years until Adamson's death.<ref name="Hannavy">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ8DHBay4_EC |title=Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography |author=John Hannavy |year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-135-87326-4 |pages=888 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515091526/https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ8DHBay4_EC |archivedate=15 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/06/underexposed-the-forgotten-female-pioneers-of-photography |date=6 May 2015 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Sarah |last=Crompton |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |title=She takes a good picture: six forgotten female pioneers of photography |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509040636/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/06/underexposed-the-forgotten-female-pioneers-of-photography |archivedate=9 May 2016}}</ref> Mann is a strong candidate for being considered the first Scottish woman photographer,<ref>{{cite book | title=The Photography of Victorian Scotland | author=Roddy Simpson |year=2012 | publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZhvAAAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-0-7486-5464-2 | pages=27–28}}</ref><ref name="Miller 2011">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13028501.Scottish_woman_who_was_a_camera_pioneer/ |date=13 April 2011 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Phil |last=Miller |publisher=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]] |location=Glasgow |title=Scottish woman who was a camera pioneer |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604085020/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13028501.Scottish_woman_who_was_a_camera_pioneer/ |archivedate=4 June 2016}}</ref> and was one of the first women anywhere to be involved in photography.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14431735.An_image_of_Ms_Jessie_Mann__Is_this_the_mysterious_Scottish_woman_who_helped_pioneer_photography_/?ref=rl&lp=5 |date=16 April 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Phil |last=Miller |publisher=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]] |location=Glasgow |title=Is this the mysterious Scottish woman who helped pioneer photography? |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604090939/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14431735.An_image_of_Ms_Jessie_Mann__Is_this_the_mysterious_Scottish_woman_who_helped_pioneer_photography_/?ref=rl&lp=5 |archivedate=4 June 2016}}</ref> It is thought that Mann is the assistant that made the photograph of the King of Saxony in 1844, taken at the studio whilst Hill and Adamson were unavailable.<ref name="Hannavy" /><ref name="Miller 2011" /> A resulting print is now in the [[Scottish National Portrait Gallery]].<ref name="Hannavy" /><ref name="Miller 2011" />
They had an assistant, [[Jessie Mann (photographer)|Jessie Mann]], who worked with them for at least three years until Adamson's death.<ref name="Hannavy">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ8DHBay4_EC |title=Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography |author=John Hannavy |year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-135-87326-4 |pages=888 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515091526/https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ8DHBay4_EC |archive-date=15 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/06/underexposed-the-forgotten-female-pioneers-of-photography |date=6 May 2015 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Sarah |last=Crompton |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |title=She takes a good picture: six forgotten female pioneers of photography |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509040636/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/06/underexposed-the-forgotten-female-pioneers-of-photography |archive-date=9 May 2016}}</ref> Mann is a strong candidate for being considered the first Scottish woman photographer,<ref>{{cite book | title=The Photography of Victorian Scotland | author=Roddy Simpson |year=2012 | publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZhvAAAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-0-7486-5464-2 | pages=27–28}}</ref><ref name="Miller 2011">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13028501.Scottish_woman_who_was_a_camera_pioneer/ |date=13 April 2011 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Phil |last=Miller |publisher=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]] |location=Glasgow |title=Scottish woman who was a camera pioneer |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604085020/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13028501.Scottish_woman_who_was_a_camera_pioneer/ |archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref> and was one of the first women anywhere to be involved in photography.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14431735.An_image_of_Ms_Jessie_Mann__Is_this_the_mysterious_Scottish_woman_who_helped_pioneer_photography_/?ref=rl&lp=5 |date=16 April 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016 |first=Phil |last=Miller |publisher=[[The Herald (Glasgow)]] |location=Glasgow |title=Is this the mysterious Scottish woman who helped pioneer photography? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604090939/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14431735.An_image_of_Ms_Jessie_Mann__Is_this_the_mysterious_Scottish_woman_who_helped_pioneer_photography_/?ref=rl&lp=5 |archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref> It is thought that Mann is the assistant that made the photograph of the King of Saxony in 1844, taken at the studio whilst Hill and Adamson were unavailable.<ref name="Hannavy" /><ref name="Miller 2011" /> A resulting print is now in the [[Scottish National Portrait Gallery]].<ref name="Hannavy" /><ref name="Miller 2011" />


== Historical re-evaluation ==
== Historical re-evaluation ==
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{{Gallery
{{Gallery
| title = Selected artwork by Hill & Adamson
| title = Selected artwork by Hill & Adamson
| lines = 5
| width = 160
| width = 160
| height = 140
| height = 140
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|File:St Andrews, North Street, Fishergate, Women and Children Baiting the Line.jpg|St Andrews, North Street, Fishergate, c1845
|File:St Andrews, North Street, Fishergate, Women and Children Baiting the Line.jpg|St Andrews, North Street, Fishergate, c1845
|File:Dumbarton Presbytery.jpg|''Dumbarton Presbytery'', 1845, showing four ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]
|File:Dumbarton Presbytery.jpg|''Dumbarton Presbytery'', 1845, showing four ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]
|File:Trinity College Chapel and Hospital, with Calton Hill in the background, 1840s.jpg|Trinity College Chapel and Hospital, with Calton Hill in the background, 1840s|The_Scott_Monument_May_2,_1845.jpg|The Scott Monument (May 2, 1845)|File:Lord_Cockburn_at_Bonaly_Tower,_Edinburgh.jpg|Lord Cockburn (1779-1854) Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Rector of Glasgow University. He was involved with Hill in establishing the Royal Scottish Academy. He is pictured here at Bonaly Tower in Colinton.}}
}}


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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== References ==
== References ==
*{{cite web | url = http://www.getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?find=&role=&nation=&page=1&subjectid=500041217 | title = Union List of Artist Names | accessdate = 4 March 2012 | year = 2004 | publisher = J. Paul Getty Trust}}
*{{cite web | url = http://www.getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?find=&role=&nation=&page=1&subjectid=500041217 | title = Union List of Artist Names | access-date = 4 March 2012 | year = 2004 | publisher = J. Paul Getty Trust}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hlad/hd_hlad.htm |title=David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and Robert Adamson (1821–1848) (1840s) |work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |accessdate=4 March 2012 |last=Daniel |first=Malcolm |date=October 2004 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225222645/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hlad/hd_hlad.htm |archivedate=25 February 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hlad/hd_hlad.htm |title=David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and Robert Adamson (1821–1848) (1840s) |work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |access-date=4 March 2012 |last=Daniel |first=Malcolm |date=October 2004 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225222645/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hlad/hd_hlad.htm |archive-date=25 February 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
*{{cite book | last1 = Michaelson | first1 = Katherine | title = David Octavius Hill 1802–1870 & Robert Adamson 1821–1848 | publisher = Scottish Arts Council | year = 1970 | location = Edinburgh }}
*{{cite book | last1 = Michaelson | first1 = Katherine | title = David Octavius Hill 1802–1870 & Robert Adamson 1821–1848 | publisher = Scottish Arts Council | year = 1970 | location = Edinburgh }}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/ |title=Hill & Adamson Biographies |accessdate=4 March 2012 |publisher=University of Glasgow Library |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013002339/http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/ |archivedate=13 October 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/ |title=Hill & Adamson Biographies |access-date=4 March 2012 |publisher=University of Glasgow Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013002339/http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/specialcollections/collectionsa-z/hilladamson/hilladamsonbiographies/ |archive-date=13 October 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}


== External links ==
== External links ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill and Adamson}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill and Adamson}}
[[Category:Pioneers of photography]]
[[Category:Pioneers of photography]]
[[Category:19th-century photographers]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish photographers]]
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1843]]
[[Category:1843 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:1843 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 1848]]
[[Category:Companies based in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Companies based in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Calton Hill]]
[[Category:Calton Hill]]

Latest revision as of 18:36, 29 January 2024

Hill & Adamson
Formation1843
Dissolved1848
PurposePhotography studio, producing salt prints from calotype negatives
Location
Coordinates55°57′16″N 3°11′07″W / 55.954361°N 3.185335°W / 55.954361; -3.185335
Key people
AffiliationsDavid Brewster

Hill & Adamson was the first photography studio in Scotland, set up by painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson in 1843.[1] During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first substantial body of self-consciously artistic work using the newly invented medium of photography."[2] Watercolorist John Harden, on first seeing Hill & Adamson's calotypes in November 1843, wrote, "The pictures produced are as Rembrandt's but improved, so like his style & the oldest & finest masters that doubtless a great progress in Portrait painting & effect must be the consequence."[2]

Free Church of Scotland[edit]

Hill was present at the Disruption Assembly in 1843 when over 450 ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland assembly and down to another assembly hall to found the Free Church of Scotland. He decided to record the dramatic scene with the encouragement of his friend Lord Cockburn and another spectator, the physicist Sir David Brewster who suggested using the new invention, photography, to get likenesses of all the ministers present. Brewster was himself experimenting with this technology which only dated back to 1839, and he introduced Hill to another enthusiast, Robert Adamson. Hill & Adamson took a series of photographs of those who had been present and of the setting. The 5-foot x 11-foot 4 inches (1.53m x 3.45m) painting was eventually completed in 1866.[3]

Photography studio[edit]

Rock House was home to Hill & Adamson's studio

Their collaboration, with Adamson providing skill in composition and lighting, and Hill considerable sensitivity and dexterity in handling the camera, proved extremely successful, and they soon broadened their subject matter. Adamson's studio, "Rock House",[4] on the Calton Hill in Edinburgh became the centre of their photographic experiments. Using the calotype process, they produced a wide range of portraits depicting well-known Scottish luminaries of the time, including Hugh Miller, both in the studio and in outdoors settings, often amongst the elaborate tombs in Greyfriars Kirkyard.[3]

They photographed local and Fife landscapes and urban scenes, including images of the Scott Monument under construction in Edinburgh. As well as the great and the good, they photographed ordinary working folk, particularly 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" (fresh herring). They produced several groundbreaking "action" photographs of soldiers and – perhaps their most famous photograph – two priests walking side by side.[3]

Their partnership produced around 3,000 different photographs, but was cut short after only four years due to the ill health and untimely death of Adamson in 1848. Hill became less active and abandoned the studio after several months, but continued to sell prints of the photographs and use them as an aid for composing paintings.[3]

They had an assistant, Jessie Mann, who worked with them for at least three years until Adamson's death.[5][6] Mann is a strong candidate for being considered the first Scottish woman photographer,[7][8] and was one of the first women anywhere to be involved in photography.[9] It is thought that Mann is the assistant that made the photograph of the King of Saxony in 1844, taken at the studio whilst Hill and Adamson were unavailable.[5][8] A resulting print is now in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.[5][8]

Historical re-evaluation[edit]

For a time, art historians often credited the duo's photographic prints to Hill alone, with some adding a minor credit of "with Adamson". Modern critics recognise the importance of each man's input in the creation and execution of their photographic work, describing Adamson's earlier solo work as having been technically capable while lacking the flair and spontaneity shown in his work with Hill, and being critical of the poor quality of Hill's later work after Adamson's death.[10]

Gallery[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Union List of Artist Names
  2. ^ a b Daniel, Malcolm (2004). Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.
  3. ^ a b c d Michaelson, Katherine (1970). Scottish Arts Council
  4. ^ "Rock House". Rock House.
  5. ^ a b c John Hannavy (2007). Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography. Taylor & Francis. p. 888. ISBN 978-1-135-87326-4. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016.
  6. ^ Crompton, Sarah (6 May 2015). "She takes a good picture: six forgotten female pioneers of photography". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. ^ Roddy Simpson (2012). The Photography of Victorian Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-0-7486-5464-2.
  8. ^ a b c Miller, Phil (13 April 2011). "Scottish woman who was a camera pioneer". Glasgow: The Herald (Glasgow). Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  9. ^ Miller, Phil (16 April 2016). "Is this the mysterious Scottish woman who helped pioneer photography?". Glasgow: The Herald (Glasgow). Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  10. ^ University of Glasgow Library, Hill & Adamson Biographies

References[edit]

External links[edit]