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negatives, a large lens, and the bright light of the Indian
sub-continent combined to reduce exposure times con-
siderably. The combination of these features enabled
McCosh to pose and photograph his subjects with little
need to contrive positions that could be sustained for
extended periods of time. Even in his early works the
fi gures seem relaxed and natural. Several of his Bur-
mese images show growing confi dence in posing his
subjects and in controlling the medium. McCosh worked
outdoors often posing his subjects posed against white
backgrounds. Relaxed squatting or crouching poses have
been used, giving a modernity and an immediacy to the
faces and fi gures he presents. This very direct approach
belies the age of these images and the insensitivity of
the process he was using.
By the time of the 2nd Burma War 1852–1853,
lightweight bellows cameras—such as those designed
by William [Marcus] Sparling, Major Halkett and
others—were available, and by the mid 1850s when
McCosh wrote his Advice to Offi cers in India they had
become commonplace for military personnel and other
amateurs working overseas. To McCosh, they offered
no attraction whatsoever and he commented
The camera should be made of good substantial ma-
hogany, clamped with brass, made to stand extremes of
heat. The fl imsy, folding portable cameras, made light for
Indian use, soon become useless.From that it can be assumed that he remained loyal to
the sliding box design, despite its weight.
Several of the images produced in 1852 and 1853 are
of a larger format than those from earlier in his career,
pointing to a larger—and heavier—camera. The prints
from these later negatives measure up to 20cm × 22cm,
suggesting a camera approaching whole plate in size,
compared to the probable quarter plate size of earlier
images.
Although there are no specifi c dates attributable to his
collodion images, it is clear McCosh continued to take
photographs well into the 1850s. Indeed, he appears in
an 1856 photograph taken at Hampton Court by Roger
Fenton to commemorate the summer outing of the three
year old Photographic Society, posing in front of a
horse-drawn photographic carriage similar to that used
by Fenton for much of his collodion photography.
John Hannavy
Biography
John McCosh was born into a medical family in the
Scottish village of Kirkmichael in Ayrshire on the 5th
of March 1805. Several brothers also became doctors,
and John joined the Bengal Medical Service as an as-
sistant surgeon at the age of twenty-six. He enrolled at
Edinburgh University in 1840 to take a degree in military
surgery, surgery, and medical jurisprudence. His medical
career was spent almost entirely in and around India,
and saw service in the 2nd Sikh War (1848–1849) and
the 2nd Burma War (1852–1853). It is from the period
spanned by these two confl icts that his surviving pho-
tography dates. He retired from the army in 1856. In
addition to his interests in medicine and photography,
McCosh enjoyed writing poetry, and published several
works of verse after retiring from military service. He
died in London on 16th March 1885. The generally
accepted spelling of his name is “McCosh although
“MacCosh” and the abbreviated “M’Cosh” have also
been identifi ed. The images in the surviving album are
identifi ed as “Photographs by Jethro M’Cosh, Surgeon,
Bengal Army.”
See also: Calotypes and Talbotypes; War
Photography; and Wet Collodion Negative.Further Reading
Hannavy, John, A Moment in Time: Scottish Contributions to Pho-
tography 1840–1920, Glasgow: Third Eye Centre, 1983.
Hershkowitz, Robert, The British Photographer Abroad, London:
Robert Hershkowitz, 1980.
McCosh, John, Advice to Offi cers in India, London: Allan and
Company, 1856.
McKenzie, Ray, “‘The Labour of Mankind’” John McCosh and
the Beginnings of Photography in British India” in History of
Photography, 109–118, London: Taylor & Francis, 1987.
Russell-Jones, Peter, “John McCosh’s Photographs” in The Pho-
tographic Journal, 25–27, London: The Royal Photographic
Society, 1968.
Worswick, Clark, The Last Empire, London: Gordon Fraser,
1976.MCGARRIGLE, JOHN (active 1870s)
Little is known about this photographer other than
the fact that he claimed to have been employed by the
Mexican government prior to his arrival in Auckland,
New Zealand.. During his short stay in Queen Street,
he secured a wonderful series of Maori studies in the
form of carte-de-visite portrait sittings. When he left
New Zealand in the early 1870s, he managed to leave
these in the custody of someone who later negotiated
their sale to the Dunedin fi rm of Burton Bros. Burton’s
were expanding their collection of New Zealand views
at the time and this collection of Maoris portraits,
which they never acknowledged, served them greatly
for many decades to come. With no written records to
fall back upon, it is diffi cult to identify or assess the true
wealth of McGarrigle1s work or how these engaging
portraits came into being. Tribes coming to Auckland
from their ancestral lands may have been enticed into
his studio for their portrait by inducements like a free
set of prints if they gave permission for them to be