David Octavius Hill British, b. Scotland, 1802-1870; and RobertAdamson British, b. Scotland, 1821-1848

Brought together out of necessity, David Octavius Hill and RobertAdamson proved to be collaborators whose work was as inspired as itsimpact has been long lasting. Hill was born in Perth to a family inthe printing and publishing business. Trained as a painter, anoccupation pursued throughout his life, Hill also was an illustratorand lithographer. His earliest work, Sketches of Scenery inPerthshire Drawn from Nature and on Stone (1821), published before hewas 20, was one of the first in Britain to employ the new medium oflithography. In 1829 he helped found the Royal Scottish Academy,serving as secretary from 1830-70.

Hill turned to photography as an aid for a large groupportrait of the 474 ministers who formed the new Free Church ofScotland. Noting the difficulties of such a monumental task,photographic pioneer Sir David Brewster, an associate of WilliamHenry Fox Talbot, introduced Hill to Robert Adamson (born inBrunswick). Trained as an engineer, Adamson had learned the techniqueof photography from his brother John, whom Brewster had taught. Theportraits necessary for Hill's work were the beginning of theircollaboration, the two working in Adamson's Edinburgh studio in 1843.Hill is generally thought to be the artistic mind behind theirimages, while Adamson served as the technician responsible for thecamera. This opinion among scholars, however, is shifting towardgreater recognition of Adamson's artistic skill.

After Adamson's early death in 1848, Hill stopped workingentirely for 10 years before continuing in collaboration with A.McGlashan of Glasgow at a considerably diminished level. Theportraits by Hill and Adamson are known for their painterly, OldMaster quality and exceptional use of light and shadow. Other imagesinclude architecture, landscape, and a series on the small fishingvillage of Newhaven. T.W.F.