James Robertson (photographer)
James Robertson (* 1813 in Middlesex , England ; † April 18, 1888 in Yokohama , Japan ) was a British photographer and engraver who worked in the Mediterranean , Crimea and India . He is considered to be one of the first photojournalists to capture armed conflicts.
Life
Robertson was born in Middlesex , Great Britain in 1813 . He first learned the profession of engraver and from 1843 worked as such for the Ottoman mint in Constantinople . It is not clear when he began to deal with photography . However, it is generally believed that he started doing this in the 1840s.
In 1853 he began working with Felice Beato and the two formed a partnership called Robertson & Beato , which either began in 1853 or when Roberton opened a photography studio in Pera , Constantinople. Beato's brother Antonio joined them in either 1854 or 1856 when they went on a photo expedition to Malta . Further trips took her to Greece and the sites of biblical acts in 1857 . A number of her photos from this period are labeled Robertson, Beato and Co. and it is assumed that the and Co. refers to Antonio Beato. Either late in 1854 or early 1855, Robertson married Beato's sister Leonilda Maria Matilda Beato, with whom he had three daughters in the years to come.
In 1855 Robertson and Felice Beato traveled to Balaklava , Crimea , where they continued the work of Roger Fenton , who until then had captured the Crimean War in photographs. The fall of Sevastopol in September 1855 is one of the highlights of her photographic work .
According to some sources, both Robertson and Felice Beato traveled to India in 1857 to record the effects of the Sepoy uprising there; However, this is denied by some authors, as photos with the company signature were taken in Palestine, Syria, Malta and Cairo at the same time. In any case, it is certain that Beato undertook the trips to the Indian hinterland alone.
In 1860 the partnership with Felice Beato, who traveled to China to photograph acts of war during the Second Opium War , was dissolved. Robertson entered into a short term business relationship with Charles Shepherd in Constantinople. Robertson ended his photographic career in the 1860s and continued his work as an engraver at the Ottoman Mint until he retired there in 1881. In the same year he began to travel to Yokohama , Japan , where Felice Beato had been very successful for a long time. He arrived there in January 1882 and died there in April 1888.
Individual evidence
literature
- Michèle Auer, Michel Auer: Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours. = Photographers Encyclopaedia International 1839 to the Present. 2 volumes. Editions Camera Obscura, Hermance 1985, ISBN 2-903671-04-4 .
- John Clark: Japanese Exchanges in Art, 1850s to 1930s. With Britain, continental Europe, and the USA. Papers and Research Materials. Power Publications, Sydney 2001, ISBN 1-86487-303-5 , pp. 89-91, 113.
- David Harris: Of Battle and Beauty. Felice Beato's Photographs of China. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara CA 1999, ISBN 0-89951-101-5 .
- James Robertson, Photographer of Istanbul. An Exhibition organized by the British Council in Association with the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. The British Council, London 1991, ISBN 0-86355-123-8 .
- Bahattin Öztuncay: James Robertson. Pioneer of Photography in the Ottoman Empire. Eren, Istanbul 1992, ISBN 975-762208-7 .
Web links
- Benaki Museum. James Robertson (1813-1888) . Accessed 26 May 2008.
- Union List of Artist Names, sv "Robertson, James" . Accessed April 3, 2006.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Robertson, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British photographer and engraver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1813 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Middlesex , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 18, 1888 |
| Place of death | Yokohama , Japan |