Francis Meadow Sutcliffe

Water Rats, color version, about 1890

Francis Meadow (Frank) Sutcliffe (born October 6, 1853 in Headingley , Leeds , † May 31, 1941 in Whitby ) was an English photographer .

Life

The son of painter and etcher Thomas Sutcliffe and Sarah Lorentia Button received his elementary training at a lady school before he was instructed in the new technology of photography .

He made his living as a portrait photographer . He worked first in Tunbridge Wells , Kent , and then later for the rest of his life in Whitby , North Yorkshire . His father put him in contact with prominent figures in the art world such as John Ruskin , and resented him for prostituting his art to take pictures of vacationers . His business on Skinner Street linked him to Whitby and the Eskdale Valley . By photographing simple people he knew well, he created a very accomplished and insightful picture of a late Victorian city ​​and the people who lived and worked there.

His most famous photo is from 1886 - Water Rats - showing naked children. But the picture is not erotic. Sutcliffe used the conventions of academic nudity to show how photography can approach art . However, the local clergy excommunicated him to show that he thought the photo was bad for the opposite sex. Edward VII (then Prince of Wales ) later bought a copy of the picture.

He was a prolific writer on photographic subjects; he has worked on several magazines and is a regular columnist in the Yorkshire Weekly Post . His works are in the collection of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society and in other national collections.

He married Eliza Weatherill Duck on January 1, 1875, the daughter of a local boot maker. He fathered a son and three daughters and owned a house in Sleights . In 1935 he became an honorary member of the Royal Photographic Society . He died on May 31, 1941 and was buried in the Aislaby cemetery.

Web links

Commons : Francis Meadow Sutcliffe  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Sutcliffe Gallery (English)