Francis Frith

English

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Francis Frith *The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx* 1858

Biography

Born 1822

Died 1898

Nationality English

Birth place Chesterfield

Death place Cannes

Francis Frith was Europe's most prolific photographer working in the Middle East, making three journeys there in four years in the late 1850s. His wicker carriage dark room doubled as his sleeping quarters. Despite the hot climate and the threat of local bandits, he produced images of Egypt and the Holy Land that are re-made by the tourist industry even today. Frith founded a publishing firm in Surrey in 1859. He was a hugely successful businessman, employing a large staff of photographers who compiled an impressive archive of images of the British Isles and the Continent.

Francis Frith (also spelled Frances Frith, 7 October 1822 – 25 February 1898) was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom. Frith was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, attending Quaker schools at Ackworth and Quaker Camp Hill in Birmingham (c. 1828–1838), before he started in the cutlery business. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1843, recuperating over the next two years. In 1850 he started a photographic studio in Liverpool, known as Frith & Hayward. A successful grocer, and later, printer, Frith fostered an interest in photography, becoming a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853. Frith sold his companies in 1855 in order to dedicate himself entirely to photography. He journeyed to the Middle East on three occasions, the first of which was a trip to Egypt in 1856 with very large cameras (16" x 20"). He used the collodion process, a major technical achievement in hot and dusty conditions.

ID: 978878

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