The Edinburgh partnership of Hill and Adamson resulted in some of the most handsome calotype portraits produced in the nineteenth century. What first attracted David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) to the new medium of photography was the possibility that calotypes could serve as a substitute for preparatory drawings for paintings. A landscapist, he was introduced to photography by Edinburgh scientist Sir David Brewster at the time of the establishment of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. Hill resolved to record this historic event on canvas, but he realized that the task of sketching the more than 450 attendees who had been present would be nearly impossible to realize. Brewster, who had learned the calotype process directly from William Henry Fox Talbot, introduced Hill to Robert Adamson (1821–1848), who was already familiar with Talbot’s invention. The pair soon formed a partnership. Hill used his keen understanding of artistic conventions to carefully compose each picture, while Adamson operated the camera and developed the prints. It would prove a powerful match of an artistic eye with exceptional technical ability.
Talbot had developed the calotype in England about the same time that Daguerre was perfecting his process in France. Two steps were necessary to make a calotype: the picture exposed in the camera formed a negative image on a translucent paper base, which was then used as a filter through which a second piece of sensitized paper was exposed to the light, thus reversing the tonal values and creating the positive image. In contrast to the Daguerreotype’s unique image, the calotype could be used to produce multiple prints. Hill rejected the extreme detail of the Daguerreotype as an art medium, preferring the calotype for its ability to reveal the distinctive character of his sitters, rather than a wealth of detail. The general aesthetic
character of their work evoked both Old Master paintings and Scottish portraits by Henry Raeburn (1756–1823).
Soon after Hill and Adamson began working together, they shifted their focus from producing photographs simply as reference material for painters, to pursuing the calotype as an art form in itself. They quickly established themselves as the preeminent portraitists in Scotland, and their handsome prints recorded individuals representing a wide range of professions and classes, characterized by imaginative poses and beautiful lighting.
The furnishings visible in their portraits suggest that the photographs were shot indoors. But calotypes were still relatively insensitive and required long exposures of about a minute. Taking advantage of the sun to quicken the process, chairs, curtains, and other props were arranged outdoors to give a convincing illusion of an interior. A mirror was used to concentrate the light on to the sitter, usually on the face, in order to capture the expression and character that Hill felt was essential. In Matilda Rigby’s portrait, she is seated in front of a curtain, with the intense light diminishing shadow while highlighting the details of her dress and face.
Three members of the Rigby family were among the many sitters to be photographed by Hill and Adamson. In October 1842, Anne Palgrave Rigby (1777–1872), widowed since 1821 with the death of her husband Dr. Edward Rigby (1747–1821), a notable obstetrician, decided to move to Edinburgh with her three unmarried daughters Jane, Elizabeth, and Matilda (she had twelve children). The Rigby residence was not far from “Rock House,” Hill and Adamson’s portrait studio, and they soon became regular visitors.
The most notable of the daughters was Elizabeth Rigby (1809–1893), a woman of letters and a prominent art critic whose essays were published in the Quarterly Review (among them reviews of novels Vanity Fair and Jane Eyre). Her publisher was John Murray, and it was at his house that Elizabeth first met Hill. She was impressed by what she saw in their Edinburgh studio, as she noted in December 1844: “To Mr. Hill’s to see his wonderful calotypes.”1 She was often accompanied by her mother and sister. Hill and Adamson made multiple photographs of these three women: Elizabeth Rigby posed more than twenty times for them, while Anne appears in ten photographs (at least one with Elizabeth), and Matilda Rigby was the subject of five.
Elizabeth married painter Charles Locke Eastlake (1793–1865) in 1849. The first president of the London Photographic Society, founded 1853, he was knighted in 1850, when he became President of the Royal Academy, and in 1855 he became the first director of the National Gallery. Their literary and artistic connections made the couple leading figures in Victorian British culture.
Matilda (“Matty”) Rigby (1815–1890) was overshadowed by her talented older sister, and her life proved a more conventional one. In October 1847, two years before Elizabeth wed Charles, Matilda married businessman James Smith, and between 1848 and 1859, she bore six children, two sons and four daughters. Her husband’s business interests meant that the family resided for many years in Ceylon, and distance meant that the sisters grew apart. Other aspects of Matilda’s marriage evidently caused a strain on their relationship, as did her husband’s bankruptcy in 1865. After 1871 the two had no more contact. Three portraits of Matilda resulted from one sitting, two are full views, while the print in the Solari Foundation Collection is a close up. Taken with a long exposure in the bright sun, Matilda leans forward, a serious and thoughtful expression on her face, framed by her carefully braided hair.
The partnership of Hill and Adamson lasted only four and a half years, yet together they produced nearly 3,000 images. Adamson, long sickly, went home to his family at St. Andrews late in 1847, and died in the middle of January 1848 at the age of twenty-seven. Without his partner, Hill returned to painting. Hill, twenty years older than Adamson, and possessed of a skilled aesthetic sensibility and strong compositional skills, proved an effective foil for Adamson’s technical proficiency. Together they achieved what neither could have achieved separately.
Daniel Mariotti
David Octavius Hill & Robert Adamson, Miss Matilda Rigby, c.1843-48, calotype, 21 x 14.5 cm, SOLARI 94.036.001L