474
at the Panopticon of Science and Art in Leicester Square.
In this Moorish-style building a lift took visitors to the
photographic saloon that was 18 metres long ‘enabling
family groups of eighteen persons to be taken at once.
In addition, completely equipped private glasshouses
could be hired by amateurs at a weekly rent. The charge
for instruction was fi ve guineas (£5.25) for six lessons.
The London School of Photography opened in 1854 at
103 Newgate Street, London. It had branch studios for
the taking of portraits in Regent Street, Oxford Street,
Poultry in the City, as well as Church Street, Liverpool
and Market Place, Manchester.
It was also the written word and word-of-mouth that
promoted photography. Alfred Brothers bought ‘photo-
genic paper’ consisting of a few sheets ready sensitised
with nitrate of silver from a bookseller in Maidstone.
He had previously read of Talbot’s experiments and had
used nitrate of silver and had coated his own sensitive
papers. Later, probably in 1855, having seen ‘a beauti-
ful photograph on glass’ in the window of Casartelli
(Opticians) he bought ‘a quarter plate camera with a
portrait lens and necessary materials’ and was shown
how to coat a wet plate by them. It was this training
and experimentation that allowed him to set up as a
professional photographer the following year and by
1857 was invited to take the photographs of the Royal
Family at the opening of the Manchester Art Treasures
Exhibition.
Photography was taught to the Royal Engineers at
Chatham from 1856 at later at Woolwich and other
military and naval establishments. This training was
invaluable for offi cers trading in India and was encour-
aged by the East India Company, acting on instructions
from Lord Canning, the Governor-General. Books on
the people, landscape and cultural inheritance of India
resulted from this open-minded policy with the photo-
graphs being almost always being taken by Captains of
the Royal Engineers.
The University of London introduced photography
into its curriculum at Kings College. A large darkroom
was erected and T. F. Hardwich, author of the fi rst
manual of photographic chemistry (1855), was ap-
pointed. Thomas Sutton, editor of Photographic Notes,
and Philip H. Delamotte succeeded Hardwick some fi ve
years later when the department of photography was
split into science and art respectively.
The fi rst examinations in photography were organised
by the City and Guilds of London Institute. Photography
was one of the seven original subjects examined with
a syllabus published in 1880 and the fi rst examinations
held in 1881. Three levels of examination were listed:
these being at Elementary, Advanced and Honours level.
The syllabus itself was theoretical and was divided into
eight sections: four of which dealt with the chemistry
of various processes, one with optics and cameras, onewith apparatus and two with the special applications of
photography. These included engraving, typography,
lithography, astronomy, microscopy and meteorologi-
cal recording.
By 1871 one commentator suggests the way forward
for the training of the future photographer. The key is
‘the art portion of our art-science’ and the suggestion
is that there is a fundamental difference between the
education of the fi ne art student and the photography
student, a discussion that in one form or other has
continued ever since. For the photography student it
is important that he fi nds ‘that everything in outline
and light and shade can be executed by the lens in his
camera.... All efforts have to be given to a general
cultivation of his thinking powers... and once duly
impressed with the conviction it is the head not the
hand which has to work, then a steady perseverance in
the right direction will... lead to ultimate success.’ He
continues to suggest the study of pictorial illustration
of fi gure subjects, harmony and outline, light and shade
and ‘the expression of the hand.’
Considering the photographer of the future in 1873
another commentator observed: ‘In order to keep pace
with the demands and requirements of an improving
public taste, it is essential that the photographer pos-
sess other abilities and accomplishments than technical
skill. He should thoroughly comprehend the laws and
principles that govern all pictorial art, leaving nothing
to chance and the camera in that respect. He should
not be entirely ignorant of the chemical and optical
sciences, and be possessed of a quick and exalted
imagination, in conjunction with a profound knowl-
edge of human nature and a practical acquaintance
with every grade of social life, that he may understand
and be at ease with all sorts and conditions.... In fact
to be a successful artist-photographer involves the
necessity of perseverance and indefatigable study,
without which none ever attained success in any art or
science....’ (Raven, The British Journal Photographic
Almanac, 1873).
By 1880 the Polytechnic Institution was bought by
Quinton Hogg and renamed the Regent Street Polytech-
nic. From November 1882 the fi rst technical classes
in photography took place on a Saturday evening as
a series of thirty lectures. Mr. E. Howard Farmer who
was to stay with the Polytechnic as its fi rst head of the
School of Photography until 1919 gave these lectures.
Outside of the Polytechnic he would best be known for
the ‘Reducer’ named after him. By 1896–97 mention
is made of the ‘large, highly successful classes at the
Polytechnic’ while in 1895 the records of the Techni-
cal Education Board credit the school of photography
with 472 students. (Greater London Record Offi ce,
July 1895)
While formally outside the timescale of this entry itEDUCATION AND TRAINING IN PHOTOGRAPHY
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