Recently I was asked to do an interview for a journalist at DC Thomson who was looking to write a nostalgia piece on Aberdeen using George Washington Wilson’s photographs while also focusing on the 160th anniversary of his appointment as Photographer Royal to the Queen in Scotland. Journalist Scott Begbie was keen to know more about Wilson’s connections to the royals. While other photographers, such as James Valentine, who gained a Royal Warrant were permitted to use the title Photographer to the Queen, Wilson’s title was unique; as was his relationship with Queen Victoria which was facilitated through his friendship with John Brown. The strength of Wilson’s royal connections are reflected in the fact that he was permitted to use Monaltrie Cottage on the grounds of the Balmoral Estate as a summer home. In 1863, Wilson took what is probably his most famous photograph and, in itself, one of the most divisive images of Queen Victoria. The photograph mentioned featured the Queen astride her horse Fyvie alongside her Ghillie John Brown holding the reigns and another servant, John Grant, was also in the photograph. Once published however, Grant was ‘cropped’ out of the resulting image which fed into to collective controversy surrounding the Queen’s relationship with Brown.
Coupled with the royal elements, I was also asked to give more detail about Wilson’s cityscapes and why he chose to live and work in Aberdeen. I was also given the opportunity to choose the photographs of Aberdeen for the article with a focus on photographs taken from heights such as Wilson’s images taken from the Municipal Tower. During his lifetime George Washington Wilson achieved success and fame which is unfortunately poorly reflected in the history books. Until Roger Taylor brought Wilson’s name to light in the 1980s there was little to no information on him and his work (save a few brief mentions). Wilson’s name has been dwarfed by others in that photographic firmament; Talbot, Niepce, Herschel, Daguerre to name a few. All of these names, many of whom came before Wilson were successful in their own right but it begs the question as to why they are better remembered than Wilson?
During his long career as a photographer, Wilson pioneered a new chemical developer for the clearer imaging of skies and clouds which previously would have had to have been pencilled in to the resulting photograph. He also developed instantaneous photography which gave him the ability to capture movement, for example see his city photographs featured in the article. During the time he developed instantaneous photography there were no shutter mechanisms available, so he improvised and used his Glengarry bonnet- one sixth of a second was as fast as he could remove his lens cap and cover it again with his bonnet. Wilson understood chemistry and optics but remained first and foremost an ‘artist and photographer’ throughout his entire life. His achievements in photography deserve more recognition and this is something that I am striving for in conducting my own research.
As part of my PhD I am also curating an exhibition of Wilson’s cityscapes of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Due to the pandemic I have had to adapt my way of thinking about this exhibition so instead of using a physical space, the exhibition will be a virtual one. I will be focusing on how the concept of Panopticism can affect how we, as modern viewers, absorb Wilson’s images. Panopticism in this sense being derived from the archetypal Panopticon (or Inspection House) put forward by Jeremy Bentham in 1791. The exhibition will centre on Panopticism and how it translates into Wilson’s photographs and into Victorian society. I aim to have this completed and published by autumn this year. The article Opening a Window in Time to Victorian Aberdeen thanks to Granite City’s Pioneering Photographer gives a snippet into the technical and visual prowess of George Washington Wilson: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/2209748/opening-a-window-in-time-to-victorian-aberdeen-thanks-to-granite-citys-pioneering-photographer/
The photographs in this article depict a society that has now passed into obscurity however, you will notice that the City of Aberdeen has not changed much to say the least. In these photographs there are many landmarks and streets that have withheld the test of time; they are a testament to Aberdeen and its enduring identity as the Granite City. George Washington Wilson was a pioneer in the field of photography and has captured images from Aberdeen’s past that would have otherwise been lost were it not for Archie Strachan’s donation of the glass plate negatives to the University of Aberdeen in the 1950s. The vast collection of images which is just over 38,000 provides the modern viewer with an extraordinary glimpse into the Victorian and early Edwardian past.
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