About this objectDavid Octavius Hill began his work as a landscape painter. He was amongst the first Associates of the Royal Scottish Academy , acting as its Secretary from 1830 until 1869. 1843 Hill was commissioned to paint a large group portrait and to assist him to do this he approached Robert Adamson to photograph the participants. Fascinated by this development he entered into a partnership with Adamson and over the next four years produced over 3000 calotypes.
Hill's graphic work is rare. After turning to photography in 1843 he all but abandoned sketching. This study shows a Scottish fisherman shown from the front and the back with the neck of a bottle sticking out of his pocket. Fishermen and women were a group of people that clearly fascinated Hill and he and Adamson took many photographs at Newhaven near Edinburgh.
