'Ship's Stern in Dry Dock', photograph by Calvert Richard Jones (1802-77), 1851

Photograph of a ship's stern in a dry dock of rough-hewn wooden props. In the foreground, a man leans against a dockside prop, on deck there are 3 women -one with a parasol. Rich dark tone print with fading to yellow to the right and lower edges of the image. Touching-out to two white spots and to the lower left corner suggests that the image was blacker when first printed. A finger mark on the photographic emulsion in the centre foreground is printed into the image.

Purchased 1983

Calvert Richard Jones was one of the first to learn of W.H. F Talbot's photographic discoveries in the late 1830s through Talbot's friends and relations who lived near to Jones in South Wales. Jones subsequently became one of the few Britons to produced a substantial body of calotypes in Britain and abroad. His work stands out in the early development of photography because of his ability to fuse his technical skill with the influence of his training as a watercolorist.

Jones' many marine studies were made at a time of transition in shipping from sail to steam. In this photograph, the presence of the figure in the foreground and the three women on deck is indicative of the contemporary interest in this ship. Newly built and the second largest ship in Britain, the Demerara went aground through the actions of the tug skipper taking her for her engines to be fitted. Badly damaged in this nationally reported incident, the Demarara was towed back to the harbour and dry docked, as this early example of photoreportage demonstrates.

The SS Demerara was built by Patterson, the ship builder who assisted Brunel with both his Bristol built ships. In 1851, on her way to have her engines fitted, she went aground in the River Avon, through the actions of the tug skipper. She remained aground through several tides and, badly damaged, she was eventually towed back to harbour. She was shored up in the dry dock at Bristol, which now holds the SS Great Britain, where she was converted to a sailing vessel. Her name was changed and she worked for many years as the 'British Empire'.

This shipyard scene is an early example of photo reportage. The three women on the deck and the man leaning against one of the timbers are viewing the SS Demerara, the second largest ship in Britain, in the aftermath of a nationally reported incident. On her way to have her engines fitted, the newly built ship ran aground and her back was broken. She was towed back to this dry dock.

The photograph was made by an early photographic process, the calotype process. During the 1830s William Henry Fox Talbot invented a way of making paper negatives and from them multiple paper prints. In doing so, he laid the foundations of modern photography. Calvert Richard Jones learned of these developments in 1839 through a neighbour in South Wales who was Talbot's first cousin. Jones was one of the first to apply a schooled artist's eye to photography.

PH.38-1983