Getty Museum

St Andrews Cathedral, the East Gable

Date

1846

Medium

Salted paper print from a paper negative

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

> Taking advantage of the fact that the calotype allowed the production of multiple prints from a single negative, Hill and Adamson (David Octavius Hill [1802-70] and Robert Adamson [1821-48]) drew up plans to publish their pictures in bound albums that would be available for public purchase. On August 3, 1844, they ran an advertisement in the Edinburgh Evening Courant stating that possible subjects for these volumes would include the inhabitants of fishing villages; Highland character and dress; the architecture of Scotland's principal cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow; historic monuments around the country; and portraits of famous Scotsmen. Strangely, none of these albums was ever realized, in spite of the group of existing Newhaven fishing photographs upon which to draw for the first volume. > > In 1846, however, Hill and Adamson did publish a set of albums, which featured the town of St. Andrews, Scotland (see also [84.XO.965.8](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99172/hill-adamson-argyle-gate-st-andrews-1846/), [84.XO.734.4.4.32](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99411/hill-adamson-st-andrews-harbour-1843-1847/), [84.XO.964.23](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99155/hill-adamson-fishergate-st-andrews-women-and-children-baiting-the-lines-1843-1847/), and [84.XO.965.1-.23](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/33007/hill-adamson-calotypes-of-st-andrews-1846/)). Each copy of *A Series of Calotype Views of St. Andrews* contained about twenty-one plates (the Getty Museum's copy has twenty-three). This plate shows the east gable of the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. The spires are dramatically silhouetted against the overexposed sky, a view exploited further by Hill and Adamson's choice of perspective. The dynamic composition, with the outer wall and pathway receding to the right at a gentle angle, contrasts with the simpler approach of Adamson before he entered into partnership with Hill (see [84.XO.965.1](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99165/hill-adamson-st-andrews-cathedral-the-east-gable-and-st-rule's-tower-1846/)). > > Anne M. Lyden. *Hill and Adamson*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 82. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum. For more information about Hill and Adamson’s photographic series on Newhaven see: [Hill and Adamson: Place](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl_MF40BGDk)

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