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G
W Wilson
Instantaneous Views
from Princes Street |
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George Washington Wilson, on his tours of Scotland, visited
Edinburgh on several occasions. He was also a member of the
Photographic Society of Scotland that met
in Edinburgh in the 1850s and 1860s.
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Princes Street Views
Wilson was one of the first photographers to take 'instantaneous
photos', taking these in Edinburgh, looking to the east along
Princes Street towards Calton Hill. His first were taken in
1859, but he returned to the same location in later years to try
to improve on his original results.
These photos used short exposures and so captured sharp images of
the people and vehicles in the busy Princes Street, rather than
the blurs that appeared in most longer-exposure photographs of the
period.
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Princes Street - c.1859
©
Reproduced with
acknowledgement to Jenny and Ray Norman Web site:
World of Stereoviews |
Princes Street - c.1860
©
Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury
family. Click here
for link to web site.
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Dates of the Photos
Thank you to Roger Taylor for guidance in
dating GW Wilson's photos of Princes Street, given in his book: George Washington
Wilson - Artist and Photographer (1823-93)'
[pp.72-74].
Roger Taylor's
book has illustrations of three 'instantaneous photos' by Wilson,
all from the same balcony on one of the buildings on the north
side of Princes Street.
The buildings in the foreground on the
left are a guide to when the photos were taken:
- 1859: 'Sun Insurance'
+ 'Star Hotel'
- 1860: 'Star Hotel'
- 1863/64: 'Star Hotel'
name removed. The hotel has been modernised and renamed, 'The
Edinburgh Hotel'. |
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- 1859: Wilson's stereo view
of 1859 is far rarer than his later views. the
copy of his 1859 view illustrated above is currently offered for sale, in good condition, for
$120 (April 2005). This is perhaps
about five times the price that might be asked for one of Wilson's
later views from the same location.
- 1863/64: In the 1863/64
views, the name 'The Edinburgh Hotel' can be seen on two new lamp
posts erected on the pavement outside the hotel. |
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Format of the Photos
Wilson sold his Princes Street photographs as stereo views
©
and also some cut-down to cartes-de-visite size.
© |
