David Octavius Hill is probably best known as a pioneer photographer who, together with Robert Adamson, formed the first professional photographic partnership in Scotland. Hill was also an accomplished landscape and figure painter, and was the secretary of the newly established Royal Scottish Academy between 1830 and 1869. Many of his paintings and drawings were used to illustrate books, including the 1840 publication of The Land of Burns, which depicted scenes that featured in the poetry of Robert Burns. In this portrait of Hill he is shown seated, holding several sheets in his hands; the image on top is clearly identifiable as a landscape and quite possibly one of his own sketches. Of the many portraits Hill and Adamson created, Hill appeared as the subject in more than forty photographs – often within a group setting, but usually as a solitary figure. It would appear that the portraits were used to experiment with different poses and lighting effects; perhaps Hill saw himself as test subject. Hill contributed much to the partnership, in particular his artistic background and connections to Edinburgh society. However, in a letter of 12 March 1845 to his friend, the artist David Roberts, he revealed: ‘I know not the process though it is done under my nose continually and I believe I never will’ (National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, TD 1742). Such an admission calls into question his exact role in the practical making of the photographs, and one might therefore ask, is this a true self-portrait? The answer is ambiguous. As in many creative partnerships the division of labour or authorship cannot be clearly assigned. Hill’s artistic leanings and Adamson’s technical acuity may have been instrumental in the success of the portraits, but the chemistry of the two men collaborating, and inspiring one another, was the essential ingredient of their successful operation.
Adamson was one of the first professional photographers in Edinburgh, establishing his studio on Calton Hill in 1843. He learned his photographic skills from his brother, John, who was involved in the early experiments with photography in St Andrews. Adamson was joined in his Edinburgh venture by Hill, who wanted to create a large historical painting to commemorate the founding of the Free Church of Scotland. The two men worked together for a few weeks on photographic studies before Hill, smitten with the new medium, quickly entered into a partnership with Adamson. Unfortunately, Adamson's early death in 1848 ended the joint venture, yet in the space of four years the two men explored the potential of the new process, producing some of the finest early photographs. Hill did not abandon photography, but his attempt to start a new partnership with the photographer Alexander McGlashan around 1860 failed. However, the legacy of Hill and Adamson as a pioneering partnership continues to resonate to this day.
This text was originally published in Facing the World: Self-portraits from Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei, Edinburgh, 2016.