EPS Members - James T Taylor

Journalism

J Traill Taylor trained himself as a journalist, and developed friendships with Sir Isaac Pitman and the editors of several prominent newspapers and magazines.

[Obit. TPP].

Photographic Journals

In 1856, he established a manuscript magazine, The Photographer. Many extracts from this magazine were published in Photographic Notes.

From 1859, he began to contribute to the British Journal of Photography.

From 1864 until 1879, , he was editor of BJP.

In 1879, he moved to a commercial position in USA. (What was this position?)

In 1880, he became editor of The Photographic Times (New York).
This had been a monthly journal until J Traill Taylor became its editor, then it became weekly, then daily during one of the American Conventions.

From 1886 until his death in 1895 he again became Editor of BJP, and also edited the BJP Almanac.

Books

J Traill Taylor was a prolific writer on optics, photography in colour, and many other branches of photography.

He also published several books including:

- Amateur Photography (No 1 in Scovill series)

- The Optics of Photography and Photographic Lenses
This book came to be regarded as a standard reference. However, the journal "The Photogram" in March 1895 [p.72] said:
"So many photographers are really in need of information on lens matters and so many of them seem afraid to read Traill Taylor's 'Optics of Photography and Photographic Lenses' (though the book is exceedingly interesting and readable) ... "

He edited and almost entirely rewrote Hardwick's Photogrpahic Chemistry.
[Obit. TPP].

Other Journals

For many years, he contributed to several well-known journals, including:

- Journal of Science and Arts

- The Popular Science Review

- The Scientific American.

[Biog TP]

[Obit. TPP] = Obituary: The Practical Photographer, December 1895, p.371

[Biog TP] = Biography: The Photogram, March 1895 p.57