Getty Museum

Edinburgh Ale

Date

1843–1847

Medium

Salted paper print from a paper negative

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

> Although similar in composition to the [group portrait of Dumbarton Presbytery](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99110/hill-adamson-dumbarton-presbytery-group-march-29-1845/), even including the same drape in the background, this informal picture of, from left to right, James Ballantine (1808-77), Dr. George Bell (d. 1889), and one of the photographers, David Octavius Hill (1802-70), has the feel of a modern snapshot. Through the men's relaxed poses, faint smiles, and indirect gazes, the scene appears spontaneous, consequently possessing a vitality much different from the ministerial image. There is the impression that a small social gathering—complete with glasses of beer—has been interrupted. The men all seem to be looking off-camera, perhaps at another member of their social set. > > Hill was a congenial character with many friends and colleagues whom he often invited to participate in calotype portraits. Two such associates were Ballantine, an author and stained glass artist, and Bell, a social reformer who was one of the founders of the "ragged schools," established for underprivileged children. > > Anne M. Lyden. *Hill and Adamson*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 66. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum.

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