Latest Research on Pioneer Photographers of Shaftesbury

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Claire Ryley and Ann Symons deliver their latest findings on the rivals and contemporaries of Shaftesbury-based photographer Albert Edward Tyler (1873-1919) at 2.30p.m. on Tuesday 02 December at Gold Hill Museum. Whereas anyone today with a smart phone can point, shoot and achieve near-perfect instant results, photography in the Tyler era was far more complicated, and beyond the means of most ordinary people. Early plate cameras were bulky, heavy pieces of kit, requiring tripods and careful calculations of focal distances and (long) exposure times. Family portraits were best taken in studio sets, where the variables had already been worked out, and subjects were discouraged from moving. Negative images then had to be converted into positive prints, requiring a dark room, dangerous chemicals, and more expensive equipment.

A plate camera of the type used by professional photographers Albert Tyler and E. F. Upfield. On show in Room 4.

It follows that amateur photographers of the period must have been particularly dedicated to their pastime. The Rev. Thomas Perkins, first Headmaster of Shaftesbury Grammar School from 1878 and later Rector of Turnworth, took the headline photograph of his friend the author Thomas Hardy. This was one of 17 photographs, and four chapters, contributed by the Rev. Perkins to Memorials of Old Dorset, published in 1907. This was planned under his editorship, but unfortunately he died before being able to complete the work. His obituary from the Royal Astronomical Society confirmed that he was An enthusiastic photographer and enjoyed a well-earned reputation for the artistic merit of his work. This view of Shaftesbury also appeared in Memorials of Old Dorset.

Not all Shaftesbury’s early photographers were men. E.F. Upfield was in fact Elizabeth Frances Upfield, who perhaps found that it was better for business for the mounts of her prints to be endorsed only with her initials. The shop, also a drapery and millinery, was listed in the 1903 Kelly’s Directory as: “New Photographic Studio (all communications & invoices to be addressed to E.F. Upfield, proprietress), High Street.”

Shaftesbury Boys’ Grammar School Cricket XI 1903, with two moustached over-age players. Photo by E.F. Upfield

This lively and illustrated presentation is free to members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society, while non-members may obtain seats from 2.20p.m. on payment of £5 at the door.