8
He was a professor of chemistry and natural science
at St. Andrews University and served as a medical of-
fi cer for the town of St. Andrews, publishing a study of
local public sanitation measures. He took up calotype
photography in 1841 and taught his brother Robert, as
well as Thomas Rodger and likely others. He produced
Scotland’s fi rst calotype in May 1842 and collaborated
extensively with his brother on perfecting the process.
Although his efforts slowed once his brother opened a
professional studio with David Octavius Hill in 1843,
he remained involved in photography and took portraits
individually and with Rodger until shortly before his
death. He contributed photographs to the Edinburgh
Calotype Club in the 1840s and was a member of the
Literary and Philosophical Society of St. Andrews, serv-
ing as its museum curator from 1838 until his death. He
was married to Esther Alexander and had a daughter,
Tetty. He died in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1870. His
work is in the National Museums of Scotland, the J. Paul
Getty Museum, the St. Andrews Preservation Trust and
the St. Andrews University Library.
See also: Calotype and Talbotype; Hill, David
Octavius and Robert Adamson; Brewster, Sir David;
and Talbot, William Henry Fox.
Further Reading
Michaelson, Katherine, A Centenary Exhibition of the Work of
David Octavius Hill 1802–1870 and Robert Adamson 1821-
1848 , Edinburgh: Scottish Arts Council, 1970 (exhibition
catalog).
Morrison-Low, A.D., “Dr John and Robert Adamson: An Early
Partnership in Scottish Photography,” in Photographic Col-
lector, 4, 1983, 199–214.
Morrison-Low, A.D., “Dr John Adamson and Thomas Rodger:
Amateur and Professional Photography in Nineteenth-cen-
tury St. Andrews” in Photography 1900: The Edinburgh
Symposium, edited by Julie Lawson, Ray McKenzie and
Alison D. Morrison-Low. Edinburgh: National Museums of
Scotland, 1994.
Morrison-Low, A.D. (editor), “Photography at St Andrews,” His-
tory of Photography (special issue), 25 (2001): 2.
Pert, Bruce, “John Adamson and Early Photography in St An-
drews,” MPhil thesis. St. Andrews: St. Andrews University,
1994.
Smith, Graham, Disciples of Light: Photographs in the Brewster
Album. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1990.
Stevenson, Sara, Facing the Light: The Photography of Hill &
Adamson. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2002
(exhibition catalog).
ADVERTISING OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
PRODUCTS
In general photography was no different to other manu-
facturing and retailing sectors in the way it approached
its advertising. Different methods were adopted for
advertising throughout the nineteenth century refl ecting
the different markets for photographic products and the
changing nature of photography itself. The methods that
the photographic studio used to advertise itself directly
to the general public were different to that adopted by
photographic manufacturers who were appealing to pro-
fessional photographers and, later, directly to amateur
photographers and a wider public.
The announcement of the daguerreotype in 1839
generated an enormous amount of editorial coverage in
newspapers and more specialised Victorian periodicals.
The Times newspaper, Art Journal and publications
such as the Athenaeum regularly reviewed photography,
covered developments and the activities of, mainly,
London-based photographers. From the early 1850s
this coverage declined rapidly as photography became
established as a trade and there were fewer signifi cant
technical developments of interest to the general pub-
lic. The growth of specialist photographic journals and
a trade press from 1853 and 1854 respectively meant
that these developments could be dealt with internally.
Throughout the rest of the century photography was only
of limited editorial or news interest and photographers
had to undertake more extensive marketing activities to
promote their business.Studios
The principal studios in London and other cities and
towns from the early 1840s regularly advertised. They
made use of newspaper and periodical classifi ed adver-
tisements, directories and more specialist publications
such as Bradshaws railway timetables to maximise their
audience reach and to ensure that new visitors would
have awareness of them. This was increasingly impor-
tant with the rapid growth in the number of studios from
the early 1850s. Often these advertisements were simple
text, but with more commercial success or more creative
copy writing the text would carry recommendations,
details of patrons or mention of medals and prizes won
by the photographer.
The growth of an affl uent middle class and eager
consumerism from the 1850s and a depression in de-
mand for photographs in the mid-1860s all provided
an added impetus for photographers to promote their
services. Price cutting was used to increase sales and
claims exaggerated to create demand. As early as the
late 1850s, a number of photographers were spuriously
claiming royal patronage, which was recognized as
supporting a studio’s commercial success and prestige.
It was not until 1895 that the issuing of Royal warrants
was fi rmly regulated.
Other more subtle forms of advertising was under-
taken, for example, the offering of free sittings to mem-
bers of society, statesmen, literary fi gures and celebrities
whose portraits could then be sold as carte de visite or