Unique local photographic archive preserved

[Michael Pritchard]

Campden & District Historical and Archæological Society has been award an Awards for All grant to bring to life the photographs of Jesse Taylor, the photographer in Chipping Campden from 1896 to 1938. Working in partnership with Gloucestershire Archives, CADHAS is conserving and scanning 1500, mainly half-plate, glass plates depicting of all aspects of life in the town and surrounding villages. Jesse Taylor was a typical high street photographer taking photographs of everything, from formal family groups, to informal shots of children at play, interiors of houses, exterior shots of well-known Cotswold buildings – and events of all kinds, from football matches to the visit of King Edward Vll in 1905 and Campden’s celebrations for the 1935 Jubilee. Taylor had a shop but seemingly no studio - all the photographs were taken elsewhere. Many of the photos can be matched with accounts in the local paper and with oral history recordings which were started in the 1980s. An exhibition is planned for 23-24 January 2010 in Chipping Campden Town Hall, where a selection of Taylor's photographs will be displayed alongside the results of the competition to bridge 'life today and life 100 yrs ago'. There will be biographical information about Jesse Taylor's life and family. See: www.chippingcampdenhistory.org.uk