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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.

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John Harden, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(71)

John Harden

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(71)

John Henning, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(32)

John Henning

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(32)

John Henning; Alexander Handyside Ritchie, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(24)

John Henning; Alexander Handyside Ritchie

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(24)

John Henning, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(92)

John Henning

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(92)

David Octavius Hill, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(1)

David Octavius Hill

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, circa 1843
NPG P6(1)

Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(2)

Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(2)

David Octavius Hill, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(103)

David Octavius Hill

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 - NPG P6(155)

'The Morning After' 'He greatly daring dined'

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(155)

The Covenanter's Tomb, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(221)

The Covenanter's Tomb

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(221)

McKenzie's Tomb, Greyfriars, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(228)

McKenzie's Tomb, Greyfriars

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(228)

David Irving, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(77)

David Irving

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843
NPG P6(77)

Anna Brownell Jameson (née Murphy), by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(112)

Anna Brownell Jameson (née Murphy)

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(112)

Elizabeth Hall (née Johnstone), by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(193)

Elizabeth Hall (née Johnstone)

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(193)

Elizabeth Hall (née Johnstone), by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(195)

Elizabeth Hall (née Johnstone)

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(195)

Jeanie Wilson, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(203)

Jeanie Wilson

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(203)

The Monks of Kennaquhair, by David Octavius Hill, and  Robert Adamson - NPG P6(144)

The Monks of Kennaquhair

by David Octavius Hill, and Robert Adamson
calotype, 1843-1848
NPG P6(144)

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