Walter B. Woodbury
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Walter Bentley Woodbury (26 June 1834 – 5 September 1885) was an inventor and pioneering English photographer. He was an early photographer in Australia and the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
(now part of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
). He also patented numerous inventions relating to various aspects of photography, his best-known innovation being the
woodburytype A Woodburytype is both a printing process and the print that it produces. In technical terms, the process is a ''photomechanical'' rather than a ''photographic'' one, because sensitivity to light plays no role in the actual printing. The process ...
photomechanical process.


Early years

Walter B. Woodbury was born in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England on 26 June 1834. His father, John, died at the age of 36, when Walter was only 12. He then went to live with an uncle after his mother remarried. In 1848 he left school and began work as an apprentice draftsman in a civil engineering firm in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. In his spare time he became interested in photography and taught himself how to take and develop photographs. He was technically minded and was able to construct his own
camera obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
s from cigar boxes and eyeglass lenses.Auer, Michèle, and Michel Auer. ''Encyclopédie internationale des photographes de 1839 à nos jours/Photographers Encyclopaedia International 1839 to the Present''(Hermance: Editions Camera Obscura, 1985) The discovery of rich goldfields in Australia in 1851 drew young men from the United Kingdom and elsewhere to try their luck on the diggings. Walter Woodbury was one of them. He departed by sea on 5 July 1852 with three friends. His mother paid his fare and provided a little spending money.


Australia

Woodbury was 18 years of age when he arrived at
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on the ''Seramphore'' (950 tons) in October 1852. He had intended to immediately go to the
diggings The Diggings was a colloquial term for the gold rush locations in Australia and the United States beginning in the 1850s. Gold miners - the diggers - would describe their journey "to the diggings" and say they were "at (or on) the diggings." Beca ...
but changed his mind after hearing not one in a hundred was earning enough to pay for their food. He found a job as a wagon driver taking supplies to the diggings and sleeping by the road at night with a bag of oats as a pillow. He was then briefly a cook at a roadside inn on the way to the gold fields. Next he worked for a surveyor's office as a draftsman copying plans of sub-divided allotments in
South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...
. During this time he lived in a tent city established on the south bank of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...
, rental accommodation being scarce and expensive. His employer was the surveyor William Dawson (1820-1873) who was active in the colony at the time. They worked in rural Victoria where in February 1853 they did a survey for the township of Meredith and surveyed the route of a new road from
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
to
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
. He liked his employer and taught him photography. He next worked as a draftsman for the Commission of Sewers and Water Supply that had an office in William St, Melbourne. He photographed the construction of ducts and other waterworks under construction for the
Yan Yean Reservoir Yan Yean Reservoir is the oldest water supply for the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. At the time of its completion in 1857 it was the largest artificial reservoir in the world. It is north of the city within the eponymous locality of ...
as well as various buildings in Melbourne. The quality of his work was recognised and he received a medal for “9 views of Melbourne, taken by the collodion process on glass” at the Victorian Exhibition in 1854.Browne, Turner, and Elaine Partnow. ''Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists & Innovators'' (New York: Macmillan, 1983), 676–677. He decided to see if he could earn a living from his photography. He travelled into through central Victoria and visiting towns such as
Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges, Macedon Ranges region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The Calder Highway, Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and W ...
. He and another young man named Spencer then travelled to the goldfields of the north-east to see if they could earn a living from making portraits of the miners. They settled for a few months at the gold-mining town of
Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859. Beechworth's many histor ...
, where they established a studio and took photographs of the Spring Creek and Woolshed Creek diggings. By December 1855, he had established himself as a portrait photographer with a studio in
North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...
. That year he created the first photographic panorama in Australia. It was a set of photographs of Melbourne taken from a tower on the outskirts of the city. He was offering for sale
stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...
views of Melbourne and environs by April 1857. At some point in the mid-1850s Woodbury met expatriate British photographer James Page (1833-1865). In 1857 the two left Melbourne and sailed for Japan, China, Japan and the Philippines. They arrived at Batavia (now
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
), Dutch East Indies, on 18 May 1857. They decided to stay and established the partnership of '' Woodbury & Page'' that same year.Merrillees, Scott. ''Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs'' (Richmond, England: Curzon Press, 2000), 256-260.


Java, Sumatra and Borneo

During most of 1858 ''Woodbury & Page'' photographed in Central and East
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, producing large views of the ruined temples near
Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...
, amongst other subjects, before 1 September of that year. After their tour of Java, by 8 December 1858 Woodbury and Page had returned to Batavia. In 1859 Woodbury returned to England to arrange a regular supplier of photographic materials for his
photographic studio A photographic studio is often a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs. Since the early years of the 20th ce ...
and he contracted the London firm ''
Negretti and Zambra Negretti and Zambra (active 1850 – c. 1985) was a company that produced scientific and optical instruments and also operated a photographic studio based in London. History Henry Negretti (1818–1879) and Joseph Zambra (1822–1897) for ...
'' to market ''Woodbury & Page'' photographs in England.Bloom, John. "Woodbury and Page: Photographers of the Old Order". In ''Toward Independence: A Century of Indonesia Photographed'' (San Francisco: The Friends of Photography, 1991), 29–30. Woodbury returned to Java in 1860 and during most of that year travelled with Page through Central and West Java along with Walter's brother, Henry James Woodbury (born 1836 – died 1873), who had arrived in Batavia in April 1859. Woodbury & Page sold photographs of topographical views, temples and portraits of high ranking Dutch officials and members of Indonesian aristocracy. They had a large collection of photos of “native type,” craftsmen, servants, dancers, musicians and food vendors. These were sold to tourists and Dutch officials as individual postcards or in albums. They also accepted commissions to take portraits of indigenous dignitaries and their retinues. The firm regularly advertised their products and services in newspapers. On 18 March 1861 ''Woodbury & Page'' moved to new premises, also in Batavia, and the studio was renamed ''Photographisch Atelier van Walter Woodbury'', also known as ''Atelier Woodbury''. The firm sold portraits, views of Java,
stereographs Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
, cameras, lenses, photographic chemicals and other photographic supplies. These premises continued to be used until 1908, when the firm was dissolved. In his career Woodbury produced topographic, ethnographic and especially portrait photographs. He photographed in Australia, Java,
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
,
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
and London. Although individual photographers were rarely identified on ''Woodbury & Page'' photographs, between 1861 and 1862 Walter B. Woodbury occasionally stamped the mounts of his photographs: "Photographed by Walter Woodbury, Java".


Return to England and further endeavours

In late January or early February 1863, Woodbury left Java to return to England, because of ill health.Ovenden, Richard. ''John Thomson (1837–1921): Photographer'' (Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, The Stationery Office, 1997), 35–36, 216. Having returned to England, Woodbury invented the
Woodburytype A Woodburytype is both a printing process and the print that it produces. In technical terms, the process is a ''photomechanical'' rather than a ''photographic'' one, because sensitivity to light plays no role in the actual printing. The process ...
photomechanical reproduction process, which he patented in 1864. Rosenblum, Naomi. ''A World History of Photography'' (New York: Abbeville Press, 1984), 34, 197–198. Between 1864 and 1885 Woodbury took out more than 30 patents in Britain and abroad for inventions relating to balloon photography,
transparencies A transparency, also known variously as a viewfoil, foil, or viewgraph, is a thin sheet of transparency (optics), transparent flexible material, typically polyester (historically cellulose acetate), onto which figures can be drawn. These are then ...
, sensitised films and improvements in optical lanterns and
stereoscopy Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
. In addition to his inventions, Woodbury produced photographs documenting London's poor. In 1865 his Woodburytype process was bought by the Photo Relief Company, then bought by the Woodbury Permanent Photographic Printing Company and then bought by a succession of other companies in Britain and elsewhere.


Personal life

Woodbury married Marie Sophia Olmeijer in 1863. The couple had eight children.


Death and memorial

Walter B. Woodbury died on 5 September 1885 while on holiday in
Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
, England. He was buried at
Abney Park Cemetery Abney Park cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London, England. Abney Park in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney, D ...
in
Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...
, close to London, where his family memorial stands to this day. His gravestone notes that he was a “photographic artist.” The
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
and the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
have some of his photographs in their collections as does the
Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
in Amsterdam and the
National Science and Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...
,
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
.


References


Notes

*


Further reading

* Elliott, Alan F. (Ed.)(1996)
''The Woodbury papers: letters and documents held by the Royal Photographic Society'', South Melbourne
* Gernsheim, Helmut. ''The Rise of Photography: 1850–1880: The Age of Collodion'' (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1988), 263–264.

Accessed 28 September 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodbury, Walter B. 1834 births 1885 deaths Pioneers of photography British portrait photographers Photographers from Manchester Burials at Abney Park Cemetery Photography in the Dutch East Indies British expatriates in Australia British expatriates in the Dutch East Indies 19th-century Australian photographers 19th-century English photographers Landscape photographers