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Photographic Inventions
During
the 1850’s Tunny made claims that he was the inventor of both the collodion
process and of the New Porcelain Process. This
was disputed by William McCraw and James
Ross,
and resulted in a further long letter to the from Tunny.
[PNo:
No 22], [JPS:1857 p48], [JPS, 21/9/1857] [JPS 21/10/1857]
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John
Nicol looks back
John Nicol, one
of the early members of EPS looking back, in 1879, on Thomas Davidson’s contribution to the early days of
photography, referred to JG Tunny and his studio:
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BJP
Notes from the North
“One of the earliest lenses made by him [Thomas Davidson] was for Mr Tunny,
whose pictures by this time were beginning to attract a good deal of attention;
and as the latter was ever ready to communicate all he knew, and was constantly
experimenting with a view to acquire knowledge.
His studio (I suppose it might be so designated,
although it would now hardly be worthy of the title) was the constant resort of
all who were anxious to learn. Many,
too, there were who, desirous of avoiding the drudgery incident to feeling their
way to success persuaded Mr. Tunny to take them as pupils; and in this way no
fewer than 257 pupils were under his care during a period of two years.”
[BJP1879
,p400]
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Thomas Davidson's Lens
Thomas Davidson made camera lenses in Edinburgh from as early as 1840, so
if John Nicol is correct in asserting that one of Davidson's early lenses was
for Tunny, this suggests that Tunny may have taken an interest in photography at
least a decade before he first appeared in the Edinburgh trade directories,
listed as a photographer in 1852.
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