The new medium of photography was announced to the world in 1839, just four years later the Scottish duo of David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) & Robert Adamson (1821-1848) were producing vast numbers of highly skilled portraits of church ministers and key members of Edinburgh society. From 1843 onwards the two men—Hill, an artist and academician; and Adamson, an engineer—produced several thousand photographs that not only featured portraiture, but also included landscapes, architectural views, tableau vivant from Scottish literature, and social documentary images of the Newhaven fisherfolk.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
1 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1JD
