Tag Archives: photographs

Early photography in Edinburgh – the story told on film

August 9, 2013 Ms Padgett Leave a comment

A little while ago we blogged about the first film in our Early Photography film series. We’ve now published all three short films in the trilogy. Take 15 minutes to discover Edinburgh’s significant part in the history of photography.

Film 1 describes the birth of photography in Edinburgh and the first photographic club in the world alongside the pioneering and world-renowned duo, Hill and Adamson.

Film 2 describes how photography was used as a tool to record social change and with the upsurge in tourism to Scotland, a means to earn a living.

Film 3 gives an account of how photography became available to the masses due to the Victorian craze for studio portraiture and the camera’s now fundamental role in family memento.

All images used to tell the early history of photography are taken from our collections here at Central Library. And don’t forget you can find many more fantastic pictures from the past on Capital Collections, our online image library.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Our Town Stories

February 18, 2013 Ms Padgett Leave a comment

Edinburgh Libraries has launched a brand new online heritage resource which tells the story of the city’s historical past. Our Town Stories (www.ourtownstories.co.uk) highlights some of the fantastic images from Capital Collections, and allows us bring them together with historical maps to tell the stories of people, places and life in the city.

Take a look at our fantastic Then & Now pictures and use the slider to play spot the difference. See buildings rise, or disappear, see ghosts from the past vanish and reappear, and townscapes grow. Use the same tool on our historical maps to see how the the city’s layout has developed since 1742.

The timeline ruler is another really useful tool which allows you to quickly zip to any time period between 1700 and the present day to see how Edinburgh looked at a particular point in history. Or you can use the dropdown menu to filter images on the map by century or by Then and Nows only.

See our full list of stories from the Story dropdown menu. The stories are built on the heritage collections of Edinburgh Libraries along with some fascinating tales contributed by partner organisations. Find out how fire-fighting has developed in Edinburgh since medieval times with a story by the Museum of Fire or take a literary tour across the map of Edinburgh with stories by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature. We’ll be continuing to add stories to Our Town Stories over the coming months. If your school has a story to tell and would like to share it online, get in touch with informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk to discover how.

James Valentine: Photographs of Scottish Scenery

October 22, 2012 Ms Padgett Leave a comment

Taken from the library’s metaphorical attic and now Capital Collections newest exhibition is this wonderful album of photographs from the 19^th century photographer and publisher, James Valentine. James Valentine’s album is far removed from the traditional photo album with crumpled pictures of Great Uncle Charles and Granny with her army of spaniels; these pictures capture some of Scotland’s most fantastic scenery, landmarks and historical sites.

Valentine’s album contains photographs covering all areas of Scotland and all aspects of Scottish life. Photographs of ancient castles, of hills filled with folklore of fairies and magic, photographs of Burns cottage in Alloway and Sir Walter Scott’s mansion Abbotsford, and historical images of Scotland’s biggest cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Browse the full album online at Capital Collections.

World Heritage Day 2012

April 16, 2012 Ms Padgett Leave a comment

April 18th is World Heritage Day – a global celebration highlighting the significance of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns are one of five sites in Scotland officially recognised on Unesco’s World Heritage List.

There’s no better way to see how Edinburgh’s cultural and architectural landscape has changed than through images past and present on our own Capital Collections website. A fascinating new online exhibition shows distinct changes in Edinburgh’s built environment. Step back into the 1960s and the 1990s with Dr Gordon Thompson’s record of Edinburgh. Dr Thompson took photographs across the city in the 1960s and then returned some thirty years later to recapture the scene and his collections of images offer a unique and personal document of the city’s landscape.