Key Information
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Adamson, Robert
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1821-1848
History
David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848) collaborated to produce some of the greatest photographic portraits of the 19th century. In 1843 Hill was commissioned to paint a large commemorative picture of the founding of the Free Church of Scotland. In order to get an accurate record of the features of the several hundred delegates of the founding convention, Hill decided to make photographic portraits of each of them. He enlisted the collaboration of Robert Adamson, a chemist who for a year had made portraits in calotype, a photographic process by which an image is developed from a paper negative. Hill and Adamson did not restrict their activities to photographing Scotland's elite. They recorded many views of Edinburgh, especially in Greyfriars' churchyard. They also went to small fishing villages, where they did some of their best work. After Adamson's death at the age of 27, Hill returned to painting.