Celebrating Britain’s history
with photographs…
Introduction
Whether you’re a natural photographer or a
complete amateur, all of us enjoy looking at
photographs – even if we’re not experts at taking
them. This booklet gives you the chance, not only
to admire the work of one of the Victorian era’s
most prolific photographers – Francis Frith – but
also to enjoy investigating old photos and relating
them to the modern world.
We hope that this brief guide will give you a taste of the
research undertaken for the Britain’s First Photo Album
series and inspire you to take on some research or
photographic challenges of your own.
You can participate in activities held at museums and
libraries across the UK. Visit bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
for more information.
Best wishes,
Britain’s First Photo Album team
As presented by John Sergeant.
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
Contents
2
About Francis Frith
3
Why I like this photo
4
Photographic timeline
6
How to compose a photograph
7
What makes a good photo
8
Glossary of photographic styles
9
How to restore old photos
10
Looking for historical clues
12
Date your photographs
13
Taking your photo journey further…
some useful contacts
The Isle of Man
Steamer, Fenella
1897, Belfast.
1
About Francis Frith
Francis Frith
Born: Derbyshire,
England, 1822
Died: Cannes,
France, 1898
Francis Frith was a devoted
family man, notable businessman
and a pioneer photographer.
He established his reputation
with the photographs he took
on a series of three expeditions
travelling up the Nile between
1857 and 1859.
When he returned to England in 1860
he established Frith & Company,
with the avowed intention of
photographing every city, town
and village in Britain.
Frith was noted for the documentary
style of his photographs and his
archive provides a detailed record of
2
The Mill, Mapledurham, 1890.
the physical and social development
in Victorian Britain. Because
his company continued taking
photographs until 1970, their work
offers the opportunity to examine
changing fashions, architectural and
communications developments,
together with the evolving landscape
of the British Isles over the past
150 years.
At the time Frith and his team of
photographers were taking their
photographs, the working man
in Britain was starting to take
excursions and holidays using the
rapidly growing network of railways.
In each location they would find
shops selling Frith photographs and
the Victorians bought millions of
Frith prints to stick into their family
albums as mementoes of their
travels. By 1886 Frith’s photographs
were available in over 2,000 shops
across the UK.
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
Why I like this photo
As part of Britain’s First Photo Album, presenter John Sergeant
visited some of the places photographed by Francis Frith.
Bleak House, Broadstairs
“For more than 20 years, during the summer
months, Charles Dickens and his family would
escape the city to live here. We love the stories
Dickens wrote, like Bleak House and Oliver Twist,
and we are proud to honour his memory. One of
our favourite places in the house is Dickens’s desk,
which had been raised up for Dickens to see the
wonderful view of the sea.”
Richard and Jackie Hilton, Broadstairs
Bolton Market Hall
“I like this photo because it shows the market at the
end of a day’s trading, you get a sense that it was
a full and bustling place. Now, over 100 years later,
it is still that – due to a huge amount of work by lots
of people over the years – and it’s just won a BBC
Food and Farming Award as Best Food Market.
It’s as if everything has come full circle from the
time when Frith took the photo.”
Dr Bob Snape, University of Bolton
Mhor’s Bakery, Scotland
“We’ve been making bread here for over
100 years. We only work with traditional baking
techniques and this photo is a reminder for us of
both where our families started and the Scottish
heritage we carry with us today. I feel a very
strong link with the past when I look at this photo.”
Rob Kerr, Callander
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
3
Photographic timeline
1830s
– Henry Fox Talbot creates
permanent images
– Louis Daguerre invents the
Daguerreotype process
1840s
– Earliest known picture
postcard posted
1850s
1880s
– First photograph appears in
a daily newspaper
– Paper-based photographic
film invented
– British publishers given permission
by the Royal Mail to manufacture
and distribute picture postcards
1890s
– Collodion wet plate process invented
– Adolphe Disdéri invents the
‘carte-de-visite’
– Rail provides fast travel for
holiday makers
– Postcards become a tourist staple
– Francis Frith died
1860s
1900s
– Photographs and negatives are added
to works protected by copyright
– First demonstration of colour
photography by James Clerk-Maxwell
– Francis Frith founded his company
in Reigate
1870s
– The ‘dry plate’ photographic
process invented
– First cigarette cards launched
4
– The first consumer camera,
the Kodak Brownie, is produced
1910s
– World War I began
– Louis Blériot crosses the English
Channel by air
– 35mm camera invented
1920s
– First public telephone kiosk installed
– First modern flash bulb invented
in Austria
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
1930s
– Cartoon-style saucy postcards
become popular
– Kodachrome produced
– Photocopying invented
– King Edward VIII abdicated
– Birth of television broadcasting
– World War II began
1940s
– Polaroid makes instant black and
white film available commercially
– The NHS is created
1950s
– Coronation of Elizabeth II
– Electric washing machines
become popular
– Routemaster double decker bus
hits the road
1960s
– Naval underwater camera invented
– Instant colour film introduced
– First man walks on the Moon
– Open University created
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
1970s
– Konica releases the first
autofocus camera
– Margaret Thatcher is elected
1980s
– Sony releases the video camcorder
– Canon demonstrates the first digital
electronic stills camera
– Fuji introduces the disposable or
‘single use’ camera
1990s
– The World Wide Web is born
– Digital photo editing tools launch
– Nelson Mandela is released
from prison
– CDs are used as a storage medium
for digital images
– First photosharing websites
appear online
2000s
– Camera phones become popular
– Polaroid ceases trading
– Facebook launched
– Film cameras reduce in popularity
– Flickr is launched
5
How to compose
a photograph
Before you start: consider the
elements in frame that you’d like
to include or leave out.
A short digital glossary
Digital photography
This means that a camera
captures information rather than
exposing light onto chemicals
as in film photography.
Think about the rule of thirds:
divide your photo horizontally and
vertically into three sections; try
putting key features along your lines
of thirds and these features can make
it easier for the viewer to enjoy the
elements you want them to see.
Face recognition
Lots of cameras detect faces
in a scene making it easier to
focus the photograph.
Practice: it’s often said ‘practice
makes perfect’, digital photography
makes it much easier to try different
things, delete mistakes, offering
plenty of chances to learn about what
works well for you.
GPS
Digital cameras and smart
phones can add the location
where a photograph has
been taken.
JPG
Frith reading at his home, Brightlands.
The rule of thirds can help create a
balanced photo, in this photo the path
leads to the lower third with Frith sitting
in a chair where the lower third meets
the right vertical third.
6
Jpeg
A file format you can save
your photograph as on a
computer.
Tagging
Digital photos are often tagged
with key words during upload;
this makes it easier for you
and others to find them in a
browser or search function,
e.g. clicking the tag ‘black
cat’ could show you a set of
photos featuring black cats.
Uploading
When you send a photo from
your computer to a site on
the internet.
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
What makes a good photo
A great photo has to be interesting
not just to the photographer and
the subject but to a wider audience
as well. So if it’s of a person, there
needs to be something captivating
about their pose, or appearance.
If it’s of a scene, the viewer needs
to smell the flowers, or taste the salt
of the sea. For example, see the
photo of Francis Frith at his home.
If it’s of a scene, the viewer
needs to smell the flowers,
or taste the salt of the sea.
Does it have something unusual
or unexpected?
To hold our attention, a photograph
needs something to intrigue us,
or draw us in in some way to make
us take time to consider and study
the image.
Does it feel balanced in the frame?
It’s not just about the composition,
but also the balance of colours,
the message it’s conveying and its
overall tone. See the rule of thirds
on page 6.
Heath Mill, Reigate, 1894.
Does it feel technically
accomplished?
Is the exposure interesting, the
lighting sublime or the overall
composition clever? Do the people
look relaxed and at ease, or unaware
of the lens?
Has it inspired a reaction
from you?
If a picture conveys an emotion
either that’s shown in the picture
or that might be provoked in the
viewer, it has achieved something,
possibly something that makes it
stand out from other photographs
(it could be laughter, sadness, anger
or despair etc.).
Do you feel you know what you
are looking for?
Try taking more than one shot to
explore different ways to frame the
scene, change the angle and height
of your camera and test the shot as
both portrait and landscape.
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
7
Glossary of photographic styles
There are many different styles of
photography – here are just a few of them.
Aerial
Action
Architectural
Astrophotography
Black and white
Cityscape
Infrared
Landscape
Macro
Night
Portrait
Underwater
© Nigel Ball
8
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
How to restore old photos
The key thing to remember
with old photos is that only a
professional should consider
tampering with the original
print. Anyone else should either
scan or photograph the original,
which should then be returned to
its album or folder. You must be
sure you have the right to copy or
scan the photo.
Repair scratches and stains
You can copy another bit of
background over a stain or scratch so
that it is masked, making the whole
picture look in much better shape.
Crop a photo
You can electronically cut off torn
edges or extraneous material from
your photo, to make it look sharper
and newer.
Once you have re-photographed or
scanned your photo, you can use one
of the many computer programmes
available to help you do the following:
Improve the colour and contrast
Faded photographs or ones where
some of the colour seems to have
leached away can be made brighter
and more colour-balanced.
Remember to save your
original scan or re-photograph
before starting work.
Make sure that if you’re working on
fine detail you enlarge the photo so
it’s easy to work on. And remember
to save your original scan or rephotograph before starting work, in
case you make a mistake and need to
start again. Then save your work-inprogress calling it something else.
If you want to find out more about
using your digital camera and PC go
to bbc.co.uk/webwise
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
9
Looking for
historical clues
Clothing
If there are people in the photo, what
are they wearing? Look to see what
the youngest people in the photo are
wearing as they are more likely to be
displaying the latest trends of the time.
Date a lady’s skirt
–– Generally, Victorian skirts went down
to the ground. Early Victorian features
crinolines with full skirts. Later
Victorian dresses featured bustles,
to make the waist look smaller.
–– The Edwardian era’s style was
similar to the Victorian, only
changing with the introduction of
the hobble skirt, where the narrow
hemline sometimes affected the
ability to walk.
–– From around 1915 onwards,
skirts got shorter.
–– Since the 1970s skirt lengths
have varied, including a number
of revivals e.g. 80s ra-ra.
1960s
1950s
1915 – onwards
Edwardian
Suits
–– Early Victorian men are likely to be
wearing frock coats, then later, lounge
suits and waistcoats, or morning
coats, with top hats, bowlers and
straw hats all being popular.
–– This fashion stayed
pretty similar until the
1920s. Baggy flannel
trousers and jumpers
became more popular
as clothing became
more casual.
–– In the 1930s double-breasted suits
were popular, as were blazers.
–– By the 1940s, suits were full and
quite loose fitting; in the 1950s
trousers were narrower; and by
the 1960s jackets were also more
styled and tightly fitting.
– In the 1960s, casual
clothes were made
in a variety of colours
and of course winklepicker shoes, brightly
coloured jeans and
flowered prints were
available for both sexes.
Victorian
10
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
Hairstyles
Hairstyles will help you date photos.
Other date indicators
–– Are there vehicles and if so, what
are they? Can you see a number
plate to help you identify the year?
1850s
–– Is there any street furniture
(postboxes, street lamps, street
signs, traffic lights etc.) that will
help you age the photograph?
1920s
–– Look at the skyline and trees
(especially if it’s somewhere you
know) to see if what was a small
sapling is now a mighty oak, or
for buildings that have been built,
or for other landmarks you can
date, for example war memorials
or town fountains.
1960s
1970s
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
11
Date your photographs
Use our rough guide to get started
in trying to date your photo. You can
date photos by asking yourself some
questions to help you identify when
they were taken.
Is it sepia, black and white
or colour?
1. Sepia or grainy black and white
– probably an early photograph
(Victorian or Edwardian).
2. Matt black and white –
1930s onwards.
3. Glossy black and white –
1950s onwards.
4. Colour – 1960s to present.
1
2
3
4
What kind of paper is it printed on?
Very generally, older black and white
photographs will not be printed on
glossy paper. Some might be on quite
heavy paper, almost like card; some
on very thin paper; and some on paper
that feels quite like linen. Early colour
photos may look quite fuzzy or faded,
with pictures from the 1960s and 70s
often having a white border.
Early colour photos may look
quite fuzzy or faded.
Are there any notes on the back
of the photograph? If so, what
does it say?
Often, people will write an aide
memoire on the back of a photo,
even if it’s just ‘Jean and Peter in
Clacton’. If it’s a family photograph,
that should be a good starting
point; use your family tree and start
exploring when the subjects might
have been around and where they
might have been at the time.
The Peart Children,
Whitby, 1891.
12
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
Taking your photo journey
further… some useful contacts
These are just a few of the many
organisations that could help you
find out more about old photographs.
Don’t forget to visit your local library
and nearest museum too.
Archives Wales
www.archiveswales.org.uk
Ancient Monuments
Society London
www.ancientmonumentssociety.org.uk
Brewery History Society
www.breweryhistory.com
British Association for
Local History
Offers guides to researching and
presenting local history and reading
old handwriting.
www.balh.co.uk
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum
The Modern Records
Centre Warwick
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/
modernrecordscentre
The National
Archives London
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The National Archives of Scotland
www.nas.gov.uk
The National Library of Wales
www.llgc.org.uk
The Photographers’
Gallery London
www.photonet.org.uk
Redeye North West
www.redeye.org.uk
The Scottish Association
of Family History Societies
www.safhs.org.uk
13
Published by the BBC
Bridge House
MediaCityUK
Salford Quays M50 2BH
With thanks to:
Reef Television who produced
Britain’s First Photo Album for
BBC Two.
©BBC 2012
All rights reserved.
The Francis Frith Collection who
have donated images for use in
this booklet.
Reproduction in whole or in part
prohibited without permission.
Design: Red Stone
Britain’s First Photo Album written
by the team at BBC Learning.
The BBC has created Britain’s First Photo Album resources to help
support local partners to run events. The event where these materials
will be used will not be run or delivered by the BBC.
bbc.co.uk/photoalbum