David Octavius Hill (1802-1870), Landscape and portrait painter; pioneer photographer
Sitter associated with 22 portraits
Artist associated with 382 portraits
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson were among the first in the world to grasp the artistic possibilities of photography. They were brought together at the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, a significant event that laid the foundations for the Free Church of Scotland. Adamson photographed the participants as studies for a proposed painting by Hill, but the two men quickly realised the potential of the new medium as an end in itself and not just as a means to an end. Between 1843 and Adamson's death in 1848, they made over 3,000 calotype images, of Edinburgh's great and good, of fisherfolk and soldiers, of visiting celebrities and of landscapes and buildings.
by Robert Scott Lauder
oil on canvas, 1829
NPG 5049
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(141)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(143)
The Nasmyth Tomb (Thomas Duncan; David Octavius Hill)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(227)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(98)
Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn, his family, David Octavius Hill and John Henning
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(237)
Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn, his family, David Octavius Hill and John Henning
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(238)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, circa 1843
NPG P6(1)
Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(2)
David Octavius Hill; William Borthwick Johnstone
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(100)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(103)
'The Morning After' 'He greatly daring dined'
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(155)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(221)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(228)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(220)
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(230)
John Henning; Alexander Handyside Ritchie; David Octavius Hill
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, circa 1845
NPG x18781
by Thomas Annan
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax17273
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
photogravure, 1840s
NPG x18472
David Octavius Hill, John Henning and Elizabeth Cleghorn (née Cockburn) at Bonaly Towers.
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18780
Thomas Miller (uncle)
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Perth and Kinross
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