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8 Apr 2020

The history of photography at the National Trust for Scotland

Written by Ben Reiss, Morton Photography Project Curator
A black and white photo of a girl's head. She has freckles and dark hair. A second person's hand is in front of her right eye.
A glass plate negative from the collection of Scottish artist E A Hornel, c1907–11 (National Trust for Scotland: Broughton House & Garden)
Like many of us today, the people who lived in our places took and collected photographs. Through the photographic collections they left behind, we can explore 160 years of the history of photography.
Expand image 1: An oval black and white photo of a girl in a dark dress holding onto a table. The photo is in a gilded frame. Expand image 2: A card with two almost identical black and white photos of three men in kilts standing in front of the Forth Rail Bridge. Expand image 3: A wooden device with an adjustable bracket holding a stereocard, a handle and an eyepiece. Expand image 4: A camera comprised of two wooden frames joined by black leather bellows. It has a lens on the front made from brass and glass. Expand image 5: black and white photo of a girl's head. She has freckles and dark hair. A second person's hand is in front of her right eye. Expand image 6: A black, box-shaped camera made from leather and metal, with a flap folded up to reveal the lens. Expand image 7: A black and white photo in negative and positive of a cat and a crayfish facing each other on a wall, with the sea behind. Expand image 8: A black and white photo of a woman sitting on a rocky beach with her boot soles facing us. She holds a camera on her lap. Expand image 9: A small, black, box-shaped camera with a leather handle on the top, a metal dial on one side and a lens at the front. Expand image 10: A rectangular, black and white plastic camera. The lens and print controls are visible. It lies next to a brown leather case. Expand image 11: A square slide mount with text reading 'Kodachrome Slide'. It holds an upside-down colour slide of a black and white cat. Expand image 12: black SLR-type camera from above. Various dials are visible and its lens-cap is on. It has a case and strap attached. Expand image 13: A colour photo of an old man inside, with a tortoiseshell cat on his right shoulder. A woman to his right is stroking the cat. Expand image 14: A small, black plastic, digital camera with a hand strap attached. The closed lens and the word 'Canon' are visible. Expand image 15: A black and white photo of a lane. Steps lead to a balcony and a little girl. Next to it is a colour photo of the same street.

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