Samuel Buckle (14 September 1808 – 1860) was an early English photographer.

Biography

Samuel Buckle was born in

Orton Longueville Orton is a mostly residential area of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For electoral purposes it comprises Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville and Orton with Hampton wa ...

in 1808 as the son of the jockey

Francis Buckle Francis Buckle (1766–1832), known to the British horse racing public as "The Governor", was an English jockey, who has been described as "the jockey non-pareil" of the opening quarter of the 19th century, and the man who "brought respectabili ...

. Samuel Buckle was the manager of a brewery in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

between 1841 and 1853, when it was sold. In 1845 he married Anne Ball. They lived in

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

from about 1853 until his death in 1860. He was seriously ill for the last years of his life.

Photography

Buckle started experimenting with photography at least as early as 1851, and exhibited at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

of 1851, where he got a Council Medal (one of only two British photographers to receive this highest accolade), at the 1852

Exhibition of Recent Specimens of Photography The Exhibition of Recent Specimens of Photography was an 1852 exhibition organised by the Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London ...

, and at other exhibitions until at least 1857. He had contacts with many other early English photographers, including

Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later ...

. Most of his surviving work was made with the

calotype Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limit the ability of this early process to record low co ...

process, but by 1858 he was working with the newer

collodion process The collodion process is an early photographic process. The collodion process, mostly synonymous with the "collodion wet plate process", requires the photographic material to be coated, sensitized, exposed, and developed within the span of about ...

. He had his own large laboratory and studio at the back of his house, where he seems to have worked mostly for his own pleasure. Commercial photographs by Buckle are not known to exist, but he sold cameras and gave lessons in photography, a.o. to Thomas Hesketh Biggs and to Arthur Schomberg Kerr. He made no portraits but stuck to landscapes. In 1853, an album with 30 of his prints was produced. 9 Prints of his work were bought by

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

in 1854. He was also the inventor of the "Buckle Brush", an easy tool made from a glass tube and some cotton wool, to coat calotype paper.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckle, Samuel 1808 births 1860 deaths People from Peterborough 19th-century English photographers Pioneers of photography Photographers from Cambridgeshire