PART 3 : THE GROWTH OF PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIOS IN BRIGHTON ( 1854-1861 )

Photographic Portrait Studios

In the ten years between November 1841 and November 1851, William Constable, aided by a few assistants, was the only photographic artist operating a portrait studio in Brighton.

When W.J.Taylor's Original Directory of Brighton was compiled for the year 1854, ten photographic studios were listed :

Edward COLLIER 58, King's Road
Charles and John COMBES 62, St James's Street
William CONSTABLE 57, Marine Parade
Lewis DIXEY 21, King's Road
Robert FARMER 59 & 114 North Street
GREY & HALL 13, St James's Street
Jesse HARRIS 213, Western Road
HENNAH & KENT 108, King's Road
William LANE 213, Western Road
Madame Agnes RUGE 180 Western Road

All the photographers listed in Taylor's 1854 directory appeared under the heading 'ARTISTS - Daguerreotype', yet we know Hennah & Kent specialised in talbotypes, Lewis Dixey stocked photographic apparatus for the calotype and collodion processes, Farmer produced calotypes using a waxed paper process and Grey & Hall employed "three distinct processes" - talbotype and collodion as well as daguerreotype.

To the 10 studios listed by Taylor's Directory in 1854 we can add the names of the artists Edward Fox junior and George Ruff, both of whom were using a camera to make views of Brighton in the early 1850s.

William Constable, who for 10 years had enjoyed a monopoly in the production of photographic portraits, was now faced with up to a dozen competitors. In the summer of 1854, Constable closed his original studio at 57 Marine Parade and removed his photographic business to the Old Custom House at 58 King's Road, where he joined forces with the daguerreotype artist Edward Collier. The Partnership of Constable & Collier continued for about 3 years. By 1858, William Constable was listed as the sole proprietor of the Original Photographic Institution at 58 Kings' Road.

In June 1855, the Brighton and Sussex Photographic Society was formed. The Photographic Society held monthly meetings and was open to amateurs and professionals. An amateur, the Reverend Watson acted as chairman, while the post of Honorary Secretary was held by Constable's business partner and professional daguerreotype artist Edward Collier. By September 1855, the Photographic Society boasted 40 members.

James Henderson, a well known London daguerreotype artist, arrived in Brighton in the summer of 1855, but by September he had moved on to Cornwall, to establish a portrait studio in Launceston. Henderson may have been deterred by the number of photographers already active in Brighton. Folthorp's Brighton Directory, which had been corrected to September 1856, adds three more photographic studios not listed in Taylor's earlier directory. George Ruff, who had been taking daguerreotype since around 1850, finally presented himself as a professional photograher in 1856. Also listed in 1856 was the firm of Merrick & Co and James Waggett, who had previously operated as a manufacturer and tuner of pianofortes at 193 Western Road. Photographic artists were listed in the section on Professions and Trades in Brighton directories, but these listings do not provide a complete picture. William G Smith is described as a photographic artist in the 1856 street directory, but his name does not appear as a photographer in the 'professions and trades' directory. William Lane, an important name in the early history of photography in Brighton, is not listed in Folthorp's Directory of 1856, yet newspaper advertisements from this time show that William Lane was employing two other operators, Mr Davis and Mr Warner, and in addition to his main studio at 213 Western Road, Lane had a branch studio in Shoreham.

Portrait of a Boy (c1855). "Verreotype" portrait taken at Lane's Photographic Gallery, 213 Western Road. William Lane called his collodion positives "verreotypes". In America they were known as "ambrotypes".



CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE The Decline of the Daguerreotype

 

 

Website last updated: 23 December, 2002

 

This website is dedicated to the memory of Arthur T. Gill (1915-1987), Sussex Photohistorian

 




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