James Robertson (1813–1888) was an English gem and coin engraver who worked in the Mediterranean region, and who became a pioneering photographer working in the Crimea and possibly India. He is noted for his Orientalist photographs and for being one of the first war photographers.
Table of Contents
- 1 Life and career
- 1.1 And the Land Lay Still
- 1.2 Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Solider, The Legend
- 1.3 After the Civil War: The Heroes, Villains, Soldiers, and Civilians Who Changed America
- 1.4 The Fanatic
- 1.5 The Untold Civil War: Exploring the Human Side of War
- 1.6 Robert E. Lee: Virginian Soldier, American Citizen
- 1.7 The Testament of Gideon Mack
- 1.8 James Robertson, Father of Tennessee and Founder of Nashville
- 1.9 Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales; Spies, Lies & Blackmail
- 1.10 Royal Sessions
Life and career
Robertson was born in Middlesex in 1813. He trained as an engraver under Wyon (probably William Wyon). In 1841, he established in Constantinople where he worked as an “engraver and die-stamper” at the Imperial Ottoman Mint. During this period, he appears to have become impatient in photography.
By the 1850s, tourist travel to Near East created strong demand for photographs as souvenirs. A little group of at the forefront photographers, mostly of French origin, made their showing off to Egypt and Constantinople to capitalise upon this demand. These pioneering photographers included Félix Bonfils (1831-1885); Gustave Le Gray (1820-1884), brothers Henri and Emile Bechard; the British-Italian brothers, Antonio Beato (c. 1832–1906) and Felice Beato (1832–1909), and the Greek Zangaki brothers. Many of these photographers were in Egypt at the thesame time, and some, including Robertson, formed partnerships.
In 1853 Robertson began photographing once the British-Italian photographer Felice Beato and the two formed a partnership called Robertson & Beato either in that year or in 1854 later Robertson opened a photographic studio in Pera, Constantinople. Robertson and Beato were united by Beato’s brother, Antonio on photographic expeditions to Malta in 1854 or 1856 and to Greece and Jerusalem in 1857. A number of the firm’s photographs produced in the 1850s are signed Robertson, Beato and Co. and it is believed that “and Co.” refers to Antonio.
In late 1854 or at the forefront 1855 Robertson married the Beato brothers’ sister, Leonilda Maria Matilda Beato. The couple had three daughters, Catherine Grace (born in 1856), Edith Marcon Vergence (born in 1859) and Helen Beatruc (born in 1861).
In 1855 Robertson along afterward Felice Beato, Charles Langlois and Karl Baptiste van Szatmari travelled to Balaklava, Crimea where they photographed the closing stages of the Crimean War. (They had replaced the previous photographer, Roger Fenton.) They photographed the fall of Sevastopol in September 1855. Of everything the photographs produced, at least 60 made by Robertson are the best known. It was Robertson’s piece of legislation in Crimea that would earn him the reputation as the world’s “first charge photographer.”
In all but 1857 both Robertson and Felice Beato went to Calcutta in India to photograph the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion. Robertson plus produced photographs in Palestine, Syria, Malta, and Cairo taking into consideration either or both of the Beato brothers.
In the late 1850s, Robertson produced a number of water-colours with popular Orientalist themes such as carpet-sellers and snake charmers. It is confusing whether he painted these, or overpainted photographs following a soft, water-colour wash.
In 1860, after Felice Beato left for China to photograph the Second Opium War and Antonio Beato went to Egypt, Robertson briefly teamed taking place with Charles Shepherd help in Constantinople. The unconditional of Robertson & Beato was dissolved in 1867, having produced images – including remarkable multiple-print panoramas – of Malta, Greece, Turkey, Damascus, Jerusalem, Egypt, the Crimea and India. Robertson possibly gave stirring photography in the 1860s; he returned to comport yourself as an engraver at the Imperial Ottoman Mint until his retirement in 1881. In that year he left for Yokohama, Japan, arriving in January 1882. He died there in April 1888.
Last update 2021-08-06