One of Hill and Adamson’s calotypes of Newhaven and its inhabitants, this powerful portrait shows three self-confident fishermen in a relaxed pose in front of one of the boats. The way in which they form a solid, mutually supportive group gives a sense of the close-knit social structure of this independent fishing community. Dressed in individual-looking hats, their clothes are shaped and battered by their work at sea, which was highly-skilled and dangerous but profitable. The Newhaven men worked from open boats, close to the shore as well as further out on open sea. Every year during the herring season, they moved 200 miles north to Wick for six to eight weeks, often rowing the entire distance.