Section
B : A Variety of Photographerss
The
Artist - Photographer
The earliest photographer in Brighton, William Constable
had, before turning to photography, received some attention for
his artistic talent in drawing and painting. During his travels
in America, Constable made sketches of Niagara Falls and other
striking features of the New World, which he later made into finished
watercolours. A contemporary newspaper The Brightron Herald
described Constable's artwork as "eminently fresh, graphic
and original". Modern commentators on Constable's photographs
draw particular attention to their artistic quality.
An
artist turns to the art of photography.[ Interior with
Portraits (c1865) by the American artist Thomas Le Clear]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
Many
of Brighton's early photographers had an artistic background.
George Ruff gave his occupation as "Painter in Oil
and Water Colours" in the 1851 Census and as an artist, exhibited
marine and landscape paintings before he set up his photographic
studio in Brighton's Queens Road. Edward Fox junior was
described as a "decorative painter" in the census and
Jesse Harris, who was describedl as a daguerreotype artist
in 1854, is recorded in the 1851 Census as "Artist-Painter".
Stephen Grey, who joined with William Hall to form the
photographic firm of Grey & Hall in 1854, is listed
as a portrait painter in an 1852 directory. Thomas H. Hennah,
a partner in the Hennah & Kent photographic studio,
gave his profession as "artist" to the census enumerator.
Chemists
and Opticians
Photography has its technical as well as artistic aspects. The
early photographic processes were complicated and required the
agency of chemicals and so it is not surprising that an early
Brighton photographer was the chemist Robert Farmer, who
had come to Brighton in 1852 to take over William S. Passmore's
chemist's shop at 59 North Street. Photography also involves optics
and the employment of lenses and so Lewis Dixey, optician
and mathematical instrument maker of Kings Road, Brighton was
well placed to provide photographic apparatus and by 1854 he was
also listed as a daguerreotype artist.
Carvers,
Gilders and Picture Frame Makers
It was perhaps natural for carvers, gilders and picture frame
makers to become involved in the new art of photography. William
G. Smith who became a photographic artist in the mid 1850s
was a carver and gilder residing in Western Road Brighton at the
time of the 1851 Census. William Lane had owned the 'Cheap
Picture Frame Manufactory' at 3 Market Street, near Castle Square,
Brighton, where he mounted and framed paintings, engravings and
water colour drawings. As early as 1852, Lane had added to his
picture framing business a Photographic Apparatus Depot. William
Lane described himself as a photographer in 1852, but he had few
artistic pretensions. He took a more practical approach than photographic
artists such as Constable, Fox, Harris, Hennah and Ruff. According
to William Lane's 1852 advertisement, artistic talent was not
a prerequisite for accomplished photography."No knowledge
of drawing required to produce these wondrous works of art and
beauty... By this new process any person can produce in a few
seconds (at a trifling expense) truly life-like portraits of their
friends, landscapes, views, buildings etc". Lane offered
to provide "printed instructions, containing full particulars
for practising this fascinating art with ease and certainty".
Artisans
and Tradesmen
William
Lane was happy to supply daguerreotype apparatus and materials
to operators or amateurs, providing "instructions in the
Photographic Art" free of charge to all purchasers of photographic
equipment.
By the late 1850s, tradesmen with no previous interest in art
or photography had set themselves up as photographic artists.
Possibly armed with apparatus and instructions from Wiliam Lane's
Photographic Depot or some other local supplier, two brothers
Charles and John Combes, established themselves as "daguerreotypers"
at 62 St James Street, Brighton in 1854. In 1851, Charles Combes
was employed as a warehouseman and his younger brother John was
learning shoemaking from his cordwainer father. The Combes brothers
obviously believed they could improve their fortunes by entering
a potentially lucrative business.
James
Waggett, was earning a living manufacturing and tuning pianofortes,
when he decided to offer the additional service of taking photographic
portraits. After 3 years or so, James Waggett was removed from
the list of Brighton photographic artists and appeared once more
under the heading 'pianoforte tuners' in the local trades directory.
The chosen trade of James R Bates was that of fruiterer
and seedsman. As a 23 year old, he was running a fruiterer's shop
in Brighton and forty years later he was still in the same business.
Yet, for at least a year from 1858 to 1859, James R Bates tried
his hand at photography. When the expected profits did not materialise,
Bates abandoned photography and returned to selling fruit, seeds
and flowers.
Entrepreneurs
Joseph Langridge was a true entrepreneur. Langridge was
prepared to invest in any sort of scheme and ready to carry out
any trade to make money, and he eventually realised that taking
photographic portraits was as good a way as any. In his twenties,
Joseph Langridge, the son of a pawnbroker and second hand clothes
dealer, borrowed heavily to purchase railway shares, and invest
in a jewellery business. He carried on as a jeweller in Brighton
until the late 1840s when he started a bakery business in London.
Langridge was an insolvent debtor in 1842 and nine years later,
after his bakery venture failed, he was again declared insolvent
and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for not paying off his
debts. On his release from prison, Langridge tried his hand at
manufacturing soda water and, by 1853, he was selling smoked and
salted herrings as 'Brighton bloaters'. Listed as a photographer
at 43 Clarence Square Brighton in 1858, Joseph Langridge was probably
the man behind the photographic firm of Merrick & Co,
which appeared at 186 Western Road in 1856. Under the studio name
of Merrick, Joseph Langridge continued as a photographic artist
in Brighton for another sixteen years.
Emigres,
Exiles and Foreign Professors
Mrs
Agnes Ruge has the distinction of being the first woman to
be recorded as a photographer in Brighton. Madame Ruge is listed
at 180 Western Road under the heading of Daguerreotype Artists
in W J Taylor's 1854 Directory of Brighton. Agnes Ruge, who was
born in Dresden, Saxony, arrived in England in 1850 and was one
of several emigres who practised photography in Brighton. Joseph
Meurant, who was originally from Paris, had opened a Daguerreotype
Room In East Street, Brighton in July 1852.
Agnes
Ruge was the wife of Professor Arnold Ruge (1802-1880), an associate
of Karl Marx and a radical, who had been driven into political
exile after the failure of the 1848 Revolution in Germany.Mrs
Ruge worked as a daguerreotype artist for only a short period
of time. By 1857, Agnes Ruge was earning a living as a teacher
of the German language. Karl Marx wrote in November 1857 that
"Mrs Ruge is the only teacher of German in Brighton"
and added that "so greatly does demand exceed supply,"
she had to recruit her 19 year old daughter,Hedwig, as an assistant.
In
1851, Sarah Lowenthal was described as a "Preceptress",
or teacher, at a Ladies' School in Brighton. Mrs Lowenthal was
the English wife of Nathan Lowenthal, a Prussian immigrant , who,
in the 1851 Census, gave his occupation as "Professor of
Languages." In 1856, Mrs Sarah Lowenthal is listed in a local
directory as a "Talbotype Portrait Colourer" based at
Lonsdale House, College Road, Brighton.
