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ROBINSON, RALPH WINWOOD
(1862–1942)
English photographer
Ralph Winwood Robinson, son of the eminent pictori-
alist Henry Peach Robinson (qv), took over the family
portrait studio in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1885 when
his father’s failing health forced his retirement. The
business became known subsequently as H. P. Robin-
son & Son, and had a considerable reputation for child
portraiture. He later took over the Rembrandt Studio in
Redhill, and another in Croydon. He was a highly re-
spected pictorialist in his own right, and his enthusiasm
for exploring the unique aesthetics of the photograph led
him to become a founder member of the Linked Ring
Brotherhood in 1892.
Ralph W. Robinson also developed a ground-break-
ing approach to location portraiture, producing a highly
acclaimed series published as Royal Academicians and
Associates. These studies showed the artists at work in
their studios, and sitters included Alfred Waterhouse,
George Frederick Watts and others.
Like many professional photographers in the closing
years of the 19th century, Robinson found his livelihood
being eroded by offers of cheap portrait photography in
return for coupons being offered by soap manufactur-
ers and tobacco companies. As a direct result of this,
Robinson and others banded together and established
the Professional Photographers’ Association in London
in 1901.
John Hannavy
ROCHE, RICHARD (1831–1888)
Canadian photographer
Richard Roche was born on June 16, 1831 in England.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1851, setting sail in October
1856 as a third lieutenant on HMS Satellite for British
Columbia, which was reached via Cape Horn on June 7,
- He likely carried a camera with him, as a scrap-
book at Yale University Library (call number WA MSS
S-1817) contains photographs documenting portions of
the vessel’s voyage and the joint military occupation of
San Juan Island in which Roche took part. Roche served
on the ground as a member of the Northwest Boundary
Commission in 1858 and 1859, who included among
its members Royal Engineers trained as photographers,
until he was recalled to assist in the joint occupation of
San Juan Island by British and American troops. Early
in 1860 just prior to the Satellite’s departure, he struck
up a friendship with Francis George Claudet who lived
aboard the vessel for a time. After Roche’s retirement,
he settled on the Isle of Wight where he died in 1888.
Roche’s name is commemorated by place names in BC
and Washington. Less than three dozen prints identi-
fi ed or attributed as his work survive in Canadian and
American public collections.
David MattisonRODGER, THOMAS (1833–1883)
English photographer
As a ‘boy assistant’ in Dr. John Adamson’s St. Andrews
lecture room, Thomas Rodger could truly claim to have
been in at the birth of photography in Scotland. He be-
came interested in photography at an early age, being
taught by Adamson and eventually assisting him.
Thomas Rodger was born in St Andrews. His father,
also named Thomas, was a painter, but Thomas Jr.
chose to study chemistry and later medicine rather than
art. Nonetheless, by 1849, at the age of sixteen, he had
opened a photographic studio in the city. He lived and
worked at his studio, in St. Mary’s Place, for his entire
professional life.
Amongst his early calotype subjects—exhibited at
the Aberdeen Mechanics Institute exhibition of 1853,
were portraits of Dr. John Adamson himself, views of
the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, and several of the
city’s colleges.
Rodger exhibited his pictures in London, Edinburgh
and Glasgow over a period of several years, but all the
images exhibited from 1854 were by the wet collodion
process rather than the calotype.
Rodger’s friendship with John Adamson endured
for many years, and accounts of the 1857 Exhibition
of the Photographic Society of Scotland report a series
of posed studies of the game of golf—then enjoying a
considerable resurgence of interest—credited jointly
to the two men.
John HannavyRODRÍGUEZ, MELITÓN (1875–1942)
Colombian photogrpaher and studio owner
Melitón Rodríguez was born in Medellín, Colombia and
worked at his craft between 1892 and c.1939. He may