David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848)

View images of David Octavius HIll's salted paper prints.

David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson practiced the negative-to-positive process in Scotland, where restrictions on the invention as developed by William Henry Fox Talbot did not apply. Adamson had earned the technique from Sir David Brewster and from his older brother John. Adamson set up a photographic shop in Edinburgh and proved to be an excellent technician. He began working with David Octavius Hill, a painter of landscapes and portraits. Strong contrasts of light and shadow characterized many of their photographic portraits. Their fruitful collaboration, which produced over 3,000 images in less than five years, came to an end in 1870 when Adamson passed away at age 26.