David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson were one of the earliest photographers. They both met in Edinburgh in 1843 and established a studio in Scotland to work with William Henry Fox Talbot’s ‘calotype’ process. Calotype is an early photographic process in which a paper coated with silver iodide is used. It was capable of producing many prints, unlike the rival daguerreotype, which is a single object. Hill was a painter, and he Met Henry Fox to aid the painting, but almost immediately discovered the potential excitements of photography.
Hill and Adamson photographed Scottish people. The chemical, optical, and aesthetic experiment discovered how to make an awkward process express character, charm, and beauty. Their work was completed in less than four years, and the partnership ended with the tragedy of Robert Adamson’s death in 1848, at the age of 27.
![Willie Liston, 'Redding [cleaning or preparing] the line'; Newhaven fisherman](https://www.bygonely.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Scottish_people_1840s_38.jpg)
