James Craig Annan (8 March 1864 – 5 June 1946) was a pioneering Scottish-born photographer and Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

Early life and education

The second son of photographer Thomas Annan, James Craig Annan was born at

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and nort ...

, Scotland, on 8 March 1864. He was educated at

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

before studying chemistry and natural philosophy at Anderson's College, Glasgow (later to merge to become the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College; later again, the

Royal College of Science and Technology The Royal College of Science and Technology was a higher education college that existed in Glasgow, Scotland between 1887 and 1964, and is the predecessor institution of the University of Strathclyde. Its main building on George Street now serve ...

, and eventually becoming, in 1964, the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

.)The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art 2002. James Craig Annan
Retrieved 5 November 2010 James Annan subsequently joined his family's photographic business, T. & R. Annan and Sons of Glasgow, Hamilton and Edinburgh, and in 1883 went to Vienna to learn the process of

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

from the inventor,

Karel Klíč Karel Václav Klíč (sometimes written Karl Klietsch, 30 May 1841, Hostinné – 16 November 1926, Vienna) was a Czech painter, photographer, early comics artist, caricaturist, lithographer and illustrator. He was one of the inventors of photogr ...

. James Annan introduced the photogravure process into Britain, and T. & R. Annan, having acquired the British Patent holder rights, were to become the leading firm in Britain in gravure photographic printing.The Art of Photogravure – Key figures – James Craig Annan
Retrieved 5 November 2010 In 1891 James Craig Annan was elected to membership of Glasgow Art Club as a "photographic artist." In 1893 he exhibited his own photogravure work at the Photographic Salon in 1893, as a result of which he was, in 1894, elected a member of

The Linked Ring The Linked Ring (also known as "The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring") was a British photographic society created to propose and defend that photography was just as much an art as it was a science, motivated to propelling photography further into t ...

, a select international group of art photographers. The Linked Ring (also known as "The Brotherhood of the Linked Ring") was a photographic society created to propose and defend that photography was just as much an art as it was a science, motivated to propelling photography further into the fine art world. Members dedicated to the craft looked for new techniques that would cause less knowledgeable to steer away, persuading photographers and enthusiasts to experiment with chemical processes, printing techniques and new styles. He also gave lectures to the Edinburgh Photographic Society, on ''The Arts of Engraving'' (December 1901) and ''Photography as a Means of Artistic Expression'' (May 1910.)Edinburgh Photo reference web site. James Craig Annan
Retrieved 5 November 2010 In 1900 the

invited Annan to mount a one-man show, the first in a series of such shows at the Society's new exhibition rooms on Russell Square, London, and he was subsequently awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Society. The Selecting Committee of the Photographic Salon of the Linked Ring (8386802526)

The Selecting Committee of the Photographic Salon of the Linked Ring (8386802526)

He exhibited further, at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901; the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

; the 1910 International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography at the

Albright-Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

and in 1904, the Royal Commission for the Saint Louis World's Fair chose Annan and Sir William Abney to represent Britain on the International Jury for Photography, Photo-process, and Photo-appliances. Albright-Knox Art Gallery 1

James Craig Annan was to influence the development of photography in North America through having his work exhibited at

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...

Photo-Secession The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th century ...

Galleries in New York, and being featured in the American photographic periodical

Camera Notes ''Camera Notes'' was a photographic journal published by the Camera Club of New York from 1897 to 1903. It was edited for most of that time by photographer Alfred Stieglitz and was considered the most significant American photography journal of i ...

, published by

The Camera Club of New York Since 1884, The Camera Club of New York has been a forum to explore photography. Though the Club was created by well-to-do 'gentlemen' photography enthusiasts seeking a refuge from the mass popularization of the medium in the 1880s, it accepted i ...

from 1897 to 1903 and of which Stieglitz was editor, and featured (1905,1909, 1912) in the quarterly photographic journal

Camera Work ''Camera Work'' was a quarterly photographic journal published by Alfred Stieglitz from 1903 to 1917. It presented high-quality photogravures by some of the most important photographers in the world, with the goal to establish photography as a ...

(published by Stieglitz in New York between 1903 and 1917). Annan's photographic studio produced many of the photogravures featured in Camera Work. James Craig Annan died at

Lenzie Lenzie () is an affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 8,873. ...

, near Glasgow, on 5 June 1946.

Gallery

File:James Craig Annan (Scottish - A Franciscan, Venice - Google Art Project.jpg, A Franciscan, Venice File:Frau Mathasius - James Craig Annan (Scottish, 1864 - 1946) - Paul Getty Museum.jpg, Frau Mathasius File:James Craig Annan (Scottish - On a Dutch Shore - Google Art Project.jpg, On a Dutch Shore File:James Craig Annan (Scottish - Prof. John Young, of Glasgow University - Google Art Project.jpg, Prof. John Young, of Glasgow University File:James Craig Annan (Scottish - The Dark Mountains - Google Art Project.jpg, The Dark Mountains File:James Craig Annan (Scottish - The Riva Schiavoni, Venice - Google Art Project.jpg, The Riva Schiavoni, Venice

References

External links

James Craig Annan at Arago, le portail de la photographie

T. & R. Annan & Sons, Glasgow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annand, Walter 1864 births 1946 deaths People educated at Hamilton Academy People from Lenzie Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Photographers from Glasgow 19th-century Scottish photographers 20th-century Scottish photographers