Ethnographic Photography in Scotland

1

Early History of
Photography

Page 1

Further Notes

2

Types of Camera and  Photo

Page 2

Further Notes

3

Photographic
Societies

Page 3

Further Notes

4

Professional
Photographers

Page 4

Further Notes

5

Collections of Photos and Books

Page 5

Further Notes

Other talks:    Ethnographic Postcards in Scotland

Other talks:    History of Photography

 

Edinburgh University, School of Literature, Language and Cultures, Celtic and Scottish Studies

2nd Year Lecture:  February 22, 2010  -  Ethnographic Photography

 

Ethnographic Photography  -  Page 3  -  Further Notes

 

Ethnographic Photography in Scotland

Photographic

Societies

 

Further Notes

Edinburgh Photographic Society

from 1861

EPS Members

  • Edinburgh Photographic Society had:

  •  162 members by 1970

  •  374 members by 1880

  •  343 members by 1890

  •  509 members by 1900

  • The annual subscription to the society was kept at 5/ pa (£0.25) from 1861 until 1892.  It was in 1892 that EPS hosted the Photographic Society of the UK's Convention.  Alexander Ayton who was later to become EPS President took the official photograph of the Convention.

EPS Popular Meetings

  • As well as meetings for their own members, EPS held Popular Meetings several times each year from 1861 until the end of the century.  These meetings were open to members of the public.

    • The meetings were usually travelogues  illustrated with Magic Lantern slides, often together with musical entertainment from the 1880s onwards.

    • Up to 1,400 free tickets were issued for Popular Meetings in the 1880s. Typically  700 people would attend, and sometimes as many as 1,000.  Here is a receipt for 1s 6d, paid to the police constable on duty to keep order at one of these meetings:

      Receipt for 1s 6d for the Police Constable on Duty

      EPS Police Bill

      ©  Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh Photographic Society

    • EPS Popular Meetings, with their lantern slides, lost their appeal with the arrival of the Cinematograph.  The last Popular Meeting was held in 1901

EPS Members' Meetings

 

1860s

Lecture titles included:

Algiers.

-  Egypt.

-  Russia.

-  Tenerife.

-  Orkney Islands.

-  Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

-  Cathedrals and Abbeys of England.

 

1870s

Lecture titles included:

-  Arctic.

-  China.

-  Java.

-  Falls of Niagara.

-  Valley of the Nile.

-  Yosemite Valley.

 

1880s

Lecture titles included:

-  Pompeii and Herculaneum.

-  Italy and Switzerland.

-  Temples and Palaces of Japan.

-  Round the World with a Camera.

To Norway and Back by the St Sunniva.

Also one lecture at which Mr Pringle sang, in admirable voice and feeling, seven or eight of Burns’ songs, in front of an audience of 900.

-  The Life, Land and Lyrics of Robert Burns.

 

1890s

Lecture titles included:

-  South Africa

-  Ober Ammergau

-  Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn

-  The Scottish Coastline

-  Abbeys and Cathedrals of Scotland

-  Rambles through Fife with a Camera

 

1900s

The last two Popular Lectures were given on 9 February and 15 March 1901.  They showed cinematographs of

-  The War in South Africa.

-  The Funeral of Queen Victoria.

-  A Rugby Football match.

EPS Members' Meetings

  • These are some of the subjects discussed by EPS Members at their own meetings in the early years of the society. 

  • There was a lot of experimenting with photography in the early days, as new processes were discovered and tried, as can be seen from the titles of some of the lectures below.

1860s

Art

-  Hints on the Nature of Pictorial Beauty the Principles of  Composition

- On the Importance of a few of the Leading Principles of the Art of Drawing and their bearing on Photography

Travel

-  The Velocipede as an Adjunct to Landscape Photography.

Processes

-   The Collodian Process

-   The Tannin Process

-   The Fothergill Process

-   The Coffee Process

-   The Hot Water Process.

 

1870s

Art

-  What is Fine Arts and does it include Photography? (debates)

Equipment

-  Recent Explosions and causes in connection with the Oxyhydrogen Light

-  Production of Micrography

Processes

A few Reasons why the Photographer should study Practical Chemistry

-   The Platinotype Process

-   The Gelatine Process 

-   Carbon Printing

-   Gelatino-bromide Emulsion

-   The Beer and Albumin Process

-   The Whisky-and-Water Process

 

1880s

Art

-   Recreation in Art

-   Photography and Art 

-   An Early Taste for art and its training

Travel

-   Mr Shadbrooke’s photographs from a balloon.

-   Rome, Spain, Norway, Tangiers

-   Maine to California.

Equipment

-   Pinhole photography

-   Construction of camera bellows (with demonstration)

-   A  flexible window for the dark tent

-   Sturrock’s patent washing apparatus

-   Terras’ vignetting frame

-   A machine for coating paper with emulsion

 

1890s

Art

-   Hints on the Nature of Pictorial Beauty the Principles of  Composition

-  On the Importance of a few of the Leading Principles of the Art of Drawing and their bearing on Photography

Travel

-  The Velocipede as an Adjunct to Landscape Photography.

Processes

-   The Collodian Process

-   The Tannin Process

-   The Fothergill Process

-   The Coffee Process

-   The Hot Water Process.

  • Advice to EPS Members

    from the professional photographer

    William Crooke

    Speaking to Edinburgh Photographic Society in 1882, William Crooke said:

"My subject tonight, as you are all aware, is 'A Few Practical Hints to Beginners'.

Now, to begin photography aright there are certain qualifications necessary, namely:

-  an abundance of patience
-  presence of mind
-  dexterity in manipulating
-  a slight knowledge of chemistry
-  a little artistic taste and 
-  a quick eye for the beautiful."

 

 

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End of Page 1

 

Ethnographic Photography in Scotland

1

Early History of
Photography

Page 1

Further Notes

2

Types of Camera and  Photo

Page 2

Further Notes

3

Photographic
Societies

Page 3

Further Notes

4

Professional
Photographers

Page 4

Further Notes

5

Collections of Photos and Books

Page 5

Further Notes

Other talks:    Ethnographic Postcards in Scotland

Other talks:    History of Photography

 

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