celebrating britain’s history with...

Celebrating Britain’s history with photographs…

Introduction

Whether you’re a natural photographer or a complete amateur, all of us enjoy looking at photographs – even if we’re not experts at taking them. This booklet gives you the chance, not only to admire the work of one of the Victorian era’s most prolific photographers – Francis Frith – but also to enjoy investigating old photos and relating them to the modern world.

We hope that this brief guide will give you a taste of the research undertaken for the Britain’s First Photo Album series and inspire you to take on some research or photographic challenges of your own.

You can participate in activities held at museums and libraries across the UK. Visit bbc.co.uk/photoalbum for more information.

Best wishes, Britain’s First Photo Album team

As presented by John Sergeant.

bbc.co.uk/photoalbum

http://www.bbc.co.uk/photoalbum


Contents

2 About Francis Frith

3 Why I like this photo

4 Photographic timeline

6 How to compose a photograph

7 What makes a good photo

8 Glossary of photographic styles

9 How to restore old photos

10 Looking for historical clues

12 Date your photographs

13 Taking your photo journey further… some useful contacts

The Isle of Man Steamer, Fenella 1897, Belfast.

1

About Francis Frith

2

Francis Frith

Born: Derbyshire, England, 1822

Died: Cannes, France, 1898

Francis Frith was a devoted family man, notable businessman and a pioneer photographer. He established his reputation with the photographs he took on a series of three expeditions travelling up the Nile between 1857 and 1859.

When he returned to England in 1860 he established Frith & Company, with the avowed intention of photographing every city, town and village in Britain.

Frith was noted for the documentary style of his photographs and his archive provides a detailed record of

the physical and social development in Victorian Britain. Because his company continued taking photographs until 1970, their work offers the opportunity to examine changing fashions, architectural and communications developments, together with the evolving landscape of the British Isles over the past 150 years.

At the time Frith and his team of photographers were taking their photographs, the working man in Britain was starting to take excursions and holidays using the rapidly growing network of railways. In each location they would find shops selling Frith photographs and the Victorians bought millions of Frith prints to stick into their family albums as mementoes of their travels. By 1886 Frith’s photographs were available in over 2,000 shops across the UK.

The Mill, Mapledurham, 1890.



3

Why I like this photo

As part of Britain’s First Photo Album, presenter John Sergeant visited some of the places photographed by Francis Frith.

Bleak House, Broadstairs “For more than 20 years, during the summer months, Charles Dickens and his family would escape the city to live here. We love the stories Dickens wrote, like Bleak House and Oliver Twist, and we are proud to honour his memory. One of our favourite places in the house is Dickens’s desk, which had been raised up for Dickens to see the wonderful view of the sea.”

Richard and Jackie Hilton, Broadstairs

Bolton Market Hall “I like this photo because it shows the market at the end of a day’s trading, you get a sense that it was a full and bustling place. Now, over 100 years later, it is still that – due to a huge amount of work by lots of people over the years – and it’s just won a BBC Food and Farming Award as Best Food Market. It’s as if everything has come full circle from the time when Frith took the photo.”

Dr Bob Snape, University of Bolton

Mhor’s Bakery, Scotland “We’ve been making bread here for over 100 years. We only work with traditional baking techniques and this photo is a reminder for us of both where our families started and the Scottish heritage we carry with us today. I feel a very strong link with the past when I look at this photo.”

Rob Kerr, Callander



Photographic timeline

1830s– Henry Fox Talbot creates

permanent images – Louis Daguerre invents the

Daguerreotype process

1840s– Earliest known picture

postcard posted

1850s – Collodion wet plate process invented– Adolphe Disdéri invents the

‘carte-de-visite’

1860s– Photographs and negatives are added

to works protected by copyright– First demonstration of colour

photography by James Clerk-Maxwell– Francis Frith founded his company

in Reigate

1870s– The ‘dry plate’ photographic

process invented– First cigarette cards launched

4

1880s – First photograph appears in

a daily newspaper– Paper-based photographic

film invented– British publishers given permission

by the Royal Mail to manufacture and distribute picture postcards

1890s– Rail provides fast travel for

holiday makers– Postcards become a tourist staple– Francis Frith died

1900s– The first consumer camera,

the Kodak Brownie, is produced

1910s– World War I began– Louis Blériot crosses the English

Channel by air– 35mm camera invented

1920s – First public telephone kiosk installed– First modern flash bulb invented

in Austria



5

1930s– Cartoon-style saucy postcards

become popular– Kodachrome produced – Photocopying invented– King Edward VIII abdicated– Birth of television broadcasting– World War II began

1940s– Polaroid makes instant black and

white film available commercially– The NHS is created

1950s– Coronation of Elizabeth II– Electric washing machines

become popular– Routemaster double decker bus

hits the road

1960s– Naval underwater camera invented– Instant colour film introduced– First man walks on the Moon– Open University created

1970s– Konica releases the first

autofocus camera– Margaret Thatcher is elected

1980s– Sony releases the video camcorder– Canon demonstrates the first digital

electronic stills camera– Fuji introduces the disposable or

‘single use’ camera

1990s – The World Wide Web is born– Digital photo editing tools launch– Nelson Mandela is released

from prison– CDs are used as a storage medium

for digital images– First photosharing websites

appear online

2000s – Camera phones become popular– Polaroid ceases trading– Facebook launched– Film cameras reduce in popularity– Flickr is launched



6

How to compose a photographBefore you start: consider the elements in frame that you’d like to include or leave out.

Think about the rule of thirds: divide your photo horizontally and vertically into three sections; try putting key features along your lines of thirds and these features can make it easier for the viewer to enjoy the elements you want them to see.

Practice: it’s often said ‘practice makes perfect’, digital photography makes it much easier to try different things, delete mistakes, offering plenty of chances to learn about what works well for you.

A short digital glossary

Digital photography This means that a camera captures information rather than exposing light onto chemicals as in film photography.

Face recognition Lots of cameras detect faces in a scene making it easier to focus the photograph.

GPS Digital cameras and smart phones can add the location where a photograph has been taken.

Jpeg JPG A file format you can save

your photograph as on a computer.

Tagging Digital photos are often tagged with key words during upload; this makes it easier for you and others to find them in a browser or search function, e.g. clicking the tag ‘black cat’ could show you a set of photos featuring black cats.

Uploading When you send a photo from your computer to a site on the internet.

Frith reading at his home, Brightlands.

The rule of thirds can help create a balanced photo, in this photo the path leads to the lower third with Frith sitting in a chair where the lower third meets the right vertical third.



7

How to compose a photograph

What makes a good photo

A great photo has to be interesting not just to the photographer and the subject but to a wider audience as well. So if it’s of a person, there needs to be something captivating about their pose, or appearance. If it’s of a scene, the viewer needs to smell the flowers, or taste the salt of the sea. For example, see the photo of Francis Frith at his home.

If it’s of a scene, the viewer needs to smell the flowers, or taste the salt of the sea.

Does it have something unusual or unexpected?To hold our attention, a photograph needs something to intrigue us, or draw us in in some way to make us take time to consider and study the image.

Does it feel balanced in the frame? It’s not just about the composition, but also the balance of colours, the message it’s conveying and its overall tone. See the rule of thirds on page 6.

Heath Mill, Reigate, 1894.

Does it feel technically accomplished?Is the exposure interesting, the lighting sublime or the overall composition clever? Do the people look relaxed and at ease, or unaware of the lens?

Has it inspired a reaction from you?If a picture conveys an emotion either that’s shown in the picture or that might be provoked in the viewer, it has achieved something, possibly something that makes it stand out from other photographs (it could be laughter, sadness, anger or despair etc.).

Do you feel you know what you are looking for?Try taking more than one shot to explore different ways to frame the scene, change the angle and height of your camera and test the shot as both portrait and landscape.



8

Glossary of photographic styles

There are many different styles of photography – here are just a few of them.

Aerial Action Architectural

© Nigel Ball

Astrophotography Black and white Cityscape

Infrared Landscape Macro

Night Portrait Underwater



9

How to restore old photos

The key thing to remember with old photos is that only a professional should consider tampering with the original print. Anyone else should either scan or photograph the original, which should then be returned to its album or folder. You must be sure you have the right to copy or scan the photo.

Once you have re-photographed or scanned your photo, you can use one of the many computer programmes available to help you do the following:

Improve the colour and contrast Faded photographs or ones where some of the colour seems to have leached away can be made brighter and more colour-balanced.

Repair scratches and stainsYou can copy another bit of background over a stain or scratch so that it is masked, making the whole picture look in much better shape.

Crop a photo You can electronically cut off torn edges or extraneous material from your photo, to make it look sharper and newer.

Remember to save your original scan or re-photograph before starting work.

Make sure that if you’re working on fine detail you enlarge the photo so it’s easy to work on. And remember to save your original scan or re-photograph before starting work, in case you make a mistake and need to start again. Then save your work-in-progress calling it something else.

If you want to find out more about using your digital camera and PC go to bbc.co.uk/webwise



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Looking for historical cluesClothing If there are people in the photo, what are they wearing? Look to see what the youngest people in the photo are wearing as they are more likely to be displaying the latest trends of the time.

Date a lady’s skirt – Generally, Victorian skirts went down to the ground. Early Victorian features crinolines with full skirts. Later Victorian dresses featured bustles, to make the waist look smaller.

– The Edwardian era’s style was similar to the Victorian, only changing with the introduction of the hobble skirt, where the narrow hemline sometimes affected the ability to walk.

– From around 1915 onwards, skirts got shorter.

– Since the 1970s skirt lengths have varied, including a number of revivals e.g. 80s ra-ra.

Suits – Early Victorian men are likely to be wearing frock coats, then later, lounge suits and waistcoats, or morning coats, with top hats, bowlers and straw hats all being popular.

– This fashion stayed pretty similar until the 1920s. Baggy flannel trousers and jumpers became more popular as clothing became more casual.

– In the 1930s double-breasted suits were popular, as were blazers.

– By the 1940s, suits were full and quite loose fitting; in the 1950s trousers were narrower; and by the 1960s jackets were also more styled and tightly fitting.

Victorian

Edwardian

1915 – onwards

1950s

1960s– In the 1960s, casual

clothes were made in a variety of colours and of course winkle-picker shoes, brightly coloured jeans and flowered prints were available for both sexes.



bbc.co.uk/photoalbum bbc.co.uk/photoalbum 1111

Hairstyles Hairstyles will help you date photos.

Other date indicators – Are there vehicles and if so, what are they? Can you see a number plate to help you identify the year?

– Is there any street furniture (postboxes, street lamps, street signs, traffic lights etc.) that will help you age the photograph?

– Look at the skyline and trees (especially if it’s somewhere you know) to see if what was a small sapling is now a mighty oak, or for buildings that have been built, or for other landmarks you can date, for example war memorials or town fountains.

1850s

1920s

1960s

1970s



12

Date your photographs

Use our rough guide to get started in trying to date your photo. You can date photos by asking yourself some questions to help you identify when they were taken.

Is it sepia, black and white or colour?1. Sepia or grainy black and white

– probably an early photograph (Victorian or Edwardian).

2. Matt black and white – 1930s onwards.

3. Glossy black and white – 1950s onwards.

4. Colour – 1960s to present.

What kind of paper is it printed on?Very generally, older black and white photographs will not be printed on glossy paper. Some might be on quite heavy paper, almost like card; some on very thin paper; and some on paper that feels quite like linen. Early colour photos may look quite fuzzy or faded, with pictures from the 1960s and 70s often having a white border.

Early colour photos may look quite fuzzy or faded.

Are there any notes on the back of the photograph? If so, what does it say?Often, people will write an aide memoire on the back of a photo, even if it’s just ‘Jean and Peter in Clacton’. If it’s a family photograph, that should be a good starting point; use your family tree and start exploring when the subjects might have been around and where they might have been at the time.

1 2

3 4

The Peart Children, Whitby, 1891.



13

Taking your photo journey further… some useful contactsThese are just a few of the many organisations that could help you find out more about old photographs. Don’t forget to visit your local library and nearest museum too.

Archives Waleswww.archiveswales.org.uk

Ancient Monuments Society Londonwww.ancientmonumentssociety.org.uk

Brewery History Societywww.breweryhistory.com

British Association for Local HistoryOffers guides to researching and presenting local history and reading old handwriting. www.balh.co.uk

The Modern Records Centre Warwickwww.warwick.ac.uk/go/modernrecordscentre

The National Archives Londonwww.nationalarchives.gov.uk

The National Archives of Scotlandwww.nas.gov.uk

The National Library of Waleswww.llgc.org.uk

The Photographers’ Gallery Londonwww.photonet.org.uk

Redeye North Westwww.redeye.org.uk

The Scottish Association of Family History Societieswww.safhs.org.uk



http://www.warwick.ac.uk/go/modernrecordscentre

Published by the BBC

Bridge House MediaCityUK Salford Quays M50 2BH

©BBC 2012 All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without permission.

Britain’s First Photo Album written by the team at BBC Learning.

With thanks to:Reef Television who produced Britain’s First Photo Album for BBC Two.

The Francis Frith Collection who have donated images for use in this booklet.

Design: Red Stone

The BBC has created Britain’s First Photo Album resources to help support local partners to run events. The event where these materials will be used will not be run or delivered by the BBC.



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