David Octavius Hill
(1802-1870), Landscape and portrait painter; pioneer photographerSitter 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 David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
carbon print, 1840s
NPG x18778
David Octavius Hill, John Henning and Elizabeth Cleghorn (née Cockburn) at Bonaly Towers.
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18780
John, King of Saxony, George Sholto Douglas 17th Earl of Morton with others.
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18782
David Scott; William Leighton Leitch; William Borthwick Johnstone
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18783
Sophia Finlay; Arthur Finlay; John Hope Finlay
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18784
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18785
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18786
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
carbon print, 1840s
NPG x18787
David Octavius Hill, John Henning and others at Bonaly Towers.
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1840s
NPG x18790
Anne Rigby (née Palgrave); Elizabeth (née Rigby), Lady Eastlake
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1847
NPG x26047
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
carbon print, 1843
NPG x7952
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
albumen print, 1843-1848
NPG x133215
by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, October 1844
NPG x17009
Related People
- Amelia Robertson Hill (née Paton) (wife)
- Thomas Miller (uncle)
- Mary Watson (née Hill) (sister)
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