Mr Laing or Laine
About this artwork
The identity of the smartly dressed tennis player in this staged scene is uncertain and yet this calotype has become a popular picture postcard. Hill and Adamson are best remembered for the subtlety and perceptiveness of their photographic portraits but at times they showed a keenness for the representation of movement. Here movement is easy to detect in the blur of the racket and the man's forearm. The player's intense gaze furthermore suggests that a tennis ball just just gone out of the picture frame.
Updated before 2020
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artists:
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title:Mr Laing or Laine
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date created:1843
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materials:Salted paper print
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measurements:19.60 x 14.30 cm
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object type:
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accession number:PGP HA 558
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson was one of the first professional photographers, setting up in business in Edinburgh in March 1843. He had aspired to be an engineer but his health was too poor. His brother, John, who was involved in the early experiments with photography in St Andrews, taught him the calotype...