In his book Camera Obscura, the poet Robin Robertson describes a photograph of Princes Street taken in 1858 by GWW as 'The first snapshot' - is it a real photograph or purely imagined by the poet? Help appreciated.
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Hi Mark, I wrote my doctoral thesis on GWW so hopefully I can help! I can confirm that this is a real photograph taken between 1856-1858. Interestingly, James Valentine took the exact same photograph in 1875 but with less clarity than Wilson's original image which is testament to GWW's ability to capture the flow of movement in his work. Always happy to discuss GWW!
Thank you, Ashleigh. I wonder why the poet dated the photo to 1858?
Hi, Mark. Roger Taylor talks about GWW's Princes Street instantaneous views which date from 1859 and subsequent years. See: Roger Taylor, George Washington Wilson. Artist and photographer (1823-93), London Stereoscopic Co, 2018, p. 88, 89, 90. Others may know more about them.
Thanks very much Michael - greatly appreciated.
Hi Mark - the LSC reprint of Roger Taylor's GWW book is highly recommended- the bible on GWW. Although 1859 is the date of the earliest street view by GWW, However, he was beaten to it by John Moffat who took an instantaneous viw of a procession in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh in May 1858 - my article on the ESC enigma has a copy of this view https://scotlan3d.com/2020/12/02/the-edinburgh-stereographic-compan...