George Washington Wilson (7 February 1823 – 9 March 1893) was a pioneering Scottish photographer. In 1849, he began a career as a
portrait miniaturist, switching to
portrait photography
Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. Frequentl ...
in 1852. He received a contract to photograph the
Royal Family, working for
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and
Prince Albert. He pioneered various techniques for outdoor photography and the mass production of photographic prints as he gradually began to largely do
landscape photography in the 1860s. By 1864 he claimed to have sold over half a million copies
Biography
Wilson was born in Alvah, Banffshire. After studying art in Edinburgh and London, Wilson returned to his native city of
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in 1849 and established a business as a
portrait miniaturist catering to the wealthy families of the
North East of Scotland
North East Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Ten of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 addit ...
. After some years of mediocre success, Wilson ventured into
portrait photography
Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. Frequentl ...
in 1852, setting up a portrait studio with John Hay in 25 Crown Street in Aberdeen. From there, aided by his well-developed technical and commercial acumen and a contract to photograph the
Royal Family while documenting the building of
Balmoral Castle in 1854–1855, he established himself as one of Scotland's premier photographers working for
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and
Prince Albert in 1860.
Pioneering the development of techniques for photography outside of the studio and the mass production of photographic prints, he moved increasingly from portraiture to
landscape photography in the 1860s. He also produced stereoscopic pictures whose main characteristic was that exposures were very short. By 1864 he claimed to have sold over half a million prints.
At the time of his death in 1893 (he had handed over the business to his sons, Charles, Louis and John Hay Wilson in 1888) the firm employed 40 staff and was one of the largest publishers of photographic prints in the world, competing with
James Valentine, who was also a prolific photographer, with a large company in
Dundee. The business survived until 1908, when it was wound up at auction.
He died in 9 March 1893 and is buried in
Nellfield Cemetery
Nellfield Cemetery is a Victorian cemetery in south Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies on the Great Western Road (A93), near its eastmost end.
History
The cemetery was formerly the site of Nellfield House and its garden. It was last owned by the Gibbon ...
in Aberdeen.
Collection
Over 40,000 of Wilson's photographic glass plates still exist today, largely due to the meticulous washing and chemical treatments he insisted on.
Aberdeen University
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
is in possession of some 38,000 of these, which were donated by an Aberdeen photographer, the late
Archie Strachan, in 1958. They date from the late 1850s down to the early years of the 20th century and cover not only Aberdeen and the
North East but the whole of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and most of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, as well as parts of
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
,
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
including
Tangier
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
, the
South of Spain, and (especially) colonial
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and
Australia.
From about 1870 onwards Wilson relied increasingly on others to add to his stock. Thus all of the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
views and many of the English and Scottish series are the work of staff photographers, or were commissioned by the company from photographic firms elsewhere in the UK; and the Australian and South African images were added to the firm's stock in the 1890s by Charles Wilson (GWW's son) and staff photographers such as
Fred Hardie.
[Charles A Wilson. ''Aberdeen of Auld Lang Syne: a pictorial retrospect.'' Aberdeen, 1948.]
References
Further reading
* Durie, Alastair (1986), "George Washington Wilson: Photographic Innovator and Entrepreneur", in Parker, Geoff (ed.), ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 23, Summer 1986, pp. 21 – 27,
External links
R.V. Pringle, 'The George Washington Wilson Photographic Archive: a Postscript'R.V. Pringle, 'Aberdeenshire Photographs from the George Washington Wilson 1904 Catalogue'R.V. Pringle, 'Photographs of Gibraltar, South of Spain and Morocco from the George Washington Wilson 1908? Catalogue'The University of Aberdeen Photographic ArchivesWorks in the National Galleries of Scotland*
ttp://photocollection.alonsorobisco.es/scottish_samples.html Scottish Scenery by G.W. Wilsonyacout.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, George Washington
1823 births
1893 deaths
19th-century Scottish photographers
People from Aberdeen
Scottish portrait painters
British portrait photographers
19th-century Scottish businesspeople
19th-century Scottish painters
Scottish male painters
19th-century Scottish male artists