The Fairy Tree at Colinton 1846

This photograph of ‘The Fairy Tree at Colinton’ was made around 1843 by David Hill and Robert Adamson using the calotype process. Calotypes were made using paper coated with silver iodide. This made for a somewhat blurry image, but one that could be reproduced, unlike the earlier daguerreotypes. With its fibrous texture, the paper support also gives the print a warm, organic feel, a far cry from the cool precision we associate with photography today. Hill and Adamson’s choice of subject is interesting too. In Scotland, folklore was very much alive in the popular imagination, and trees such as this one were believed to be dwelling places of supernatural beings. So we might say that they were using state-of-the-art technology to capture something quite ancient, connecting emerging industrial processes with old cultural traditions. Ultimately, this synthesis of material, making, and subject matter challenges our conventional notions of fine art and craft, urging us to consider the broader cultural context in which art is created.