Debating Society Meeting at Merchiston Castle
David Octavius Hill
British, 1802–1870
Robert Adamson
British, 1821–1848
1840
A sepia-toned photograph in which David Octavius Hill stages a lively meeting of students at Merchiston Castle to capture their likenesses and gestures as a painterly study of a debating society.
It reads like a painting at first glance—soft, warm sepia tones, blurred edges and shadowy trees above frame a clustered group around tables whose animated poses and inward gazes create an intimate, theatrical moment.
Made at photography’s beginnings, this image exemplifies Hill’s use of the camera to record group character and composition—bridging traditional portrait painting and the new photographic medium and influencing later group and documentary photography.
Medium
Carbon print
Dimensions
9 × 11 1/2" (22.9 × 29.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Warner Communications, Inc.
Accession
1149.1979
Palette
Exhibitions
