David Octavius Hill & Robert Adamson

Greyfriars' Churchyard, the Dennistoun Monument with David Octavius Hill and his nieces the Misses Watson

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About this artwork

To create a positive image, the negative was held in direct contact with a fresh piece of paper made sensitive to light by a chemical coating. Both were then exposed to natural light. The paper fibres in the negative created a soft image that lacked the sharp lines of later photographs made using glass negatives. One of the most challenging parts of the process to get right was the exact mix of chemicals required to fix the final image, so it stopped reacting to the light.

Published October 2023

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David Octavius Hill

David Octavius Hill