Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, The Beauty of Newhaven thumbnail 1
Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, The Beauty of Newhaven thumbnail 2
+1
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 55, Box II

Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, The Beauty of Newhaven

Photograph
1843-1847 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The fishwives from the Scottish village of Newhaven were a compelling subject on account of their beauty, distinctive dress, strong character and heroic associations with the dangers of the sea. Other versions of this print are captioned 'It's no fish ye're buying, it's mens' lives'. This was a standard remark when stormy weather raised the price of fish. The image is one of a group of Newhaven studies made by the renowned partnership of painter David Octavius Hill and chemist Robert Adamson. Hill's artistic direction can be seen in the clever use of light, which highlights the subject against a dark background, and in the elegant composition. This is established by the position of the hands and the contrasting patterns of the striped skirt and the fish basket. Hill and Adamson used watercolour paper for both negatives and prints. Its fibres softened the image and further enhanced the painterly effect.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, The Beauty of Newhaven (assigned by artist)
  • A Newhaven Beauty. "It's no fish yer're buying, it's men's lives" (alternative title)
Materials and techniques
Salt paper print from calotype negative
Brief description
Photograph by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, 'The Beauty of Newhaven', salted paper print from calotype negative, 1843-1847
Physical description
One of fifty sepia-coloured photographs of people, places and nature studies taken in Scotland and bound in album.
Dimensions
  • Head to tail of closed album height: 601mm (Closed album)
  • Width of closed album width: 471mm (Closed album)
  • Volume depth: 43mm (closed album)
Style
Credit line
Given by Sir Theodore Martin, 1869
Historical context
The famous partnership and collaboration between the artist David Octavius Hill and the photographer Robert Adamson came into being originally in order to produce photographic portraits to assist Hill as a painter. The team produced a wide range of superb, valuable work and they were the first consistently and successfully employ calotype process in Great Britain.

1843 Hill was introduced to Adamson and they began to collaborate on the production of calotype portraits as reference images for the painting ‘The Signing of the Deed of Demission’ which represents 474 dignitaries. Essentially, Hill posed and arranged the individual sitters or groups while Adamson attended to the technical aspects of the exposure, processing, and printing.

Some of their most powerful images, however, were made in Scottish seashore villages and depict fishermen and women. They also photographed the architecture and monument of Scotland and made calotypes of their friends posed in medieval armour or costumes.
Subjects depicted
Places depicted
Summary
The fishwives from the Scottish village of Newhaven were a compelling subject on account of their beauty, distinctive dress, strong character and heroic associations with the dangers of the sea. Other versions of this print are captioned 'It's no fish ye're buying, it's mens' lives'. This was a standard remark when stormy weather raised the price of fish. The image is one of a group of Newhaven studies made by the renowned partnership of painter David Octavius Hill and chemist Robert Adamson. Hill's artistic direction can be seen in the clever use of light, which highlights the subject against a dark background, and in the elegant composition. This is established by the position of the hands and the contrasting patterns of the striped skirt and the fish basket. Hill and Adamson used watercolour paper for both negatives and prints. Its fibres softened the image and further enhanced the painterly effect.
Bibliographic references
  • Stevenson, Sara. 'David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson: Catalogue of their Calotypes Taken Between 1843 and 1847 in the Collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery', (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 1981). ISBN 0903148374
  • p. 54 The Origin of Photography: Great Britain. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2019.
Other number
pg.196 (NEWHAVEN 14) - National Galleries of Scotland, Hill & Adamson 1981 Catalogue, page and classification
Collection
Accession number
67390

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdOctober 10, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest