[Greyfriars Churchyard & Heriot's Hospital.]

Greyfriars Kirk proved to be a popular location for Hill and Adamson (David Octavius Hill [1802-70] and Robert Adamson [1821-48]); they made more than forty exposures within the confines of the churchyard. The picturesque quality of the tombstones and memorial statuary was an obvious attraction for the photographers. Heriot's Hospital, shown in the background on the right, was founded by George Heriot (1563-1624), goldsmith to James VI (1566-1625), as a home for poor boys.

In this particular calotype the figures of two men are bent over a large camera, apparently preparing to photograph one of the grave markers at the far right of the image. Their identities are not known, but it is likely that the person on the left is Hill. The kneeling individual is perhaps Robert Adamson or an assistant. There was, of course, a second camera and another operator that made the negative for this print.

Hill and Adamson did employ at least one assistant, a Miss Mann, of whom little is known. It is reasonable to assume that they probably had other people working for them, considering the huge output of consistently fine images. Given that the photographers were only able to work outdoors for part of the year, the operation was extremely productive, yielding thousands of prints within the short space of four and a half years. (See 84.XO.964.21, 84.XM.263.5 and 84.XO.743.4.4.47 for other views of Greyfriars.)

Anne M. Lyden. Hill and Adamson, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 42. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum.

For more information about the places Hill and Adamson photographed see "Hill and Adamson: Place".