D.O. Hill and Companion in Greyfriar's Churchyard, Edinburgh
David Octavius Hill
British, 1802–1870
Robert Adamson
British, 1821–1848
1840
A mid‑19th‑century carbon print showing two men at a weathered tomb in a churchyard, made to explore photography’s capacity to record human presence, mood, and architectural detail.
The image arrests you with its sepia stillness: a large carved stone mantel fills the upper frame while two dark‑clad figures—one bent over a notebook, a tripod propped nearby—give a quiet, human scale against the worn masonry.
Produced during photography’s formative years, this work exemplifies early experiments that treated the camera as both documentary tool and compositional, painterly medium, helping expand what could be seen, recorded, and remembered.
Medium
Carbon print
Dimensions
15 3/4 × 12 1/2" (39.2 × 31.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Warner Communications, Inc.
Accession
1154.1979
Palette
Exhibitions
