Information and discussion on all aspects of British photographic history
Of the many thousands (I believe that is no exaggeration?) of photographic studios that were established in the UK in the Victorian era, how many have survived to this day in a recognisable form?
As the owner of one such studio, I have been researching this topic, and to my surprise have so far found only about a dozen. The latest updated list can be seen here:
https://www.petworthpenthouse.com/surviving-victorian-photographic-...
Surely there must be more? I'd love to hear from anyone who knows of one.
Also I'd be grateful if anyone could suggest a more accurate figure on how many studios actually were established in the UK in the C19th.
Richard
Tags:
Congratulations!
I'm also interested in old photographic galleries and just published a book about:
Cabañas de cristal: galerías de retrato y estudios de fotografía en España, Santa Cruz de la Palma, 2020.
252 pages, 75 black and white illustrations and 28 in color.
My point is Spain, but I give examples from different places (Europe, India, USA...).
We'll be able to have a catalogue.
Good luck!
Hello Richard,
When I worked at the British Museum in the 1980s Roger Fenton's old studio was still there. It was being used by a designer but I understand there were one or two stands still present (I didn't get to see it but my boss did). No idea of its current condition.
Nicholas
Hi Tony, I've looked and can't find that Facebook group or anything of a similar name. Could you please provide a link? Cheers! Marcel
Tony Richards said:
Hi Richard,
Excellent project, there's a Facebook group called The Old Photo Studio Hunt that has some info.
There's one on Lake Road, Windermere. Now a Chinese restaurant. If I could figure out how to attach a pic via my phone I would. Have a look for Golden Fortune on Google Maps.
Tony
Thank you.
The British Museum blog shows a photo of Fenton's studio in the 1980s, and then says "The studio was continuously used by photographers until the 1960s when it became a graphic art studio, and was demolished in the 1990s."
If that's what our leading museum does, what hope do we have?
Nicholas John Burnett said:
Hello Richard,
When I worked at the British Museum in the 1980s Roger Fenton's old studio was still there. It was being used by a designer but I understand there were one or two stands still present (I didn't get to see it but my boss did). No idea of its current condition.
Nicholas
That's very good to hear you have been working on a similar project.
So how many Victorian daylight studios do you think have survived in a recognisable form in Spain?
How can one buy your book?
Richard
María de los Santos García Felgu said:
Congratulations!
I'm also interested in old photographic galleries and just published a book about:
Cabañas de cristal: galerías de retrato y estudios de fotografía en España, Santa Cruz de la Palma, 2020.
252 pages, 75 black and white illustrations and 28 in color.
My point is Spain, but I give examples from different places (Europe, India, USA...).
We'll be able to have a catalogue.
Good luck!
Very sorry to read that. I left the museum in late 1986. Presumably it was demolished as part of the Great Court Scheme.
PetworthPenthouse said:
Thank you.
The British Museum blog shows a photo of Fenton's studio in the 1980s, and then says "The studio was continuously used by photographers until the 1960s when it became a graphic art studio, and was demolished in the 1990s."
If that's what our leading museum does, what hope do we have?
Nicholas John Burnett said:Hello Richard,
When I worked at the British Museum in the 1980s Roger Fenton's old studio was still there. It was being used by a designer but I understand there were one or two stands still present (I didn't get to see it but my boss did). No idea of its current condition.
Nicholas
Ah, so is that where the studio was? I have to say I love the modern Great Court, so I would cut them a bit of slack.
Nicholas John Burnett said:
Very sorry to read that. I left the museum in late 1986. Presumably it was demolished as part of the Great Court Scheme.
Hi,
The group is called Old Photographic Studio Hunt on Facebook.
Marcel Safier said:
Hi Tony, I've looked and can't find that Facebook group or anything of a similar name. Could you please provide a link? Cheers! Marcel
Tony Richards said:Hi Richard,
Excellent project, there's a Facebook group called The Old Photo Studio Hunt that has some info.
There's one on Lake Road, Windermere. Now a Chinese restaurant. If I could figure out how to attach a pic via my phone I would. Have a look for Golden Fortune on Google Maps.
Tony
Thanks a lot for your interest.
In Spain we have some recognisable daylight studios: two of them still active (both of them in Barcelona, from around 1915-1920), some of them closed (two in Cordoba, as court galleries, from the first years of XXth. century), a big glass gallery (now an apartment) in Madrid.
The book is sold in the Museo Insular de La Palma (Santa Cruz de la Palma), museo.insular@cablapalma.es
María de los Santos
PetworthPenthouse said:
That's very good to hear you have been working on a similar project.
So how many Victorian daylight studios do you think have survived in a recognisable form in Spain?
How can one buy your book?
Richard
María de los Santos García Felgu said:Congratulations!
I'm also interested in old photographic galleries and just published a book about:
Cabañas de cristal: galerías de retrato y estudios de fotografía en España, Santa Cruz de la Palma, 2020.
252 pages, 75 black and white illustrations and 28 in color.
My point is Spain, but I give examples from different places (Europe, India, USA...).
We'll be able to have a catalogue.
Good luck!
Thanks Maria, that's interesting.
It would be good to add a pin for each of those studios to this map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1DfRaF4bdu_DvoViLTTw1jQ2h_cz...
(There is a plan to make a different coloured pins for "recognisable", and "disappeared", studios, but I will leave that to the Admin of the Facebook group "Old photographic studio hunt", who has set this map up.)
Meanwhile, I am going to limit my researches to studios in the UK.
Richard
https://www.petworthpenthouse.com/surviving-victorian-photographic-...
María de los Santos García Felgu said:
Thanks a lot for your interest.
In Spain we have some recognisable daylight studios: two of them still active (both of them in Barcelona, from around 1915-1920), some of them closed (two in Cordoba, as court galleries, from the first years of XXth. century), a big glass gallery (now an apartment) in Madrid.
The book is sold in the Museo Insular de La Palma (Santa Cruz de la Palma), museo.insular@cablapalma.es
Victoria and Albert Museum's photography collection
National Science and Media Museum
RPS Journal 1853-2012 online and searchable
Photographic History Research Centre, Leicester
Birkbeck History and Theory of Photography Research Centre
William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné
British Photography. The Hyman Collection
The Press Photo History Project Mapping the photo agencies and photographers of Fleet Street and the UK
The correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot
Historic England Archive
UAL Photography and Photography and the Archive Research Centre
Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group
www.londonstereo.com London Stereoscopic Company / T. R. Williams
www.earlyphotography.co.uk British camera makers and companies
Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock.
National Portrait Gallery, London
http://www.freewebs.com/jb3d/
Alfred Seaman and the Photographic Convention
Frederick Scott Archer
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