Frank Meadow Sutcliffe Immortalized the Fisherfolk of North Yorkshire

He sought to reframe scenes with his artistic eye

C.S. Voll
Full Frame

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A scene in Whitby, England (1890s). By Francis Meadow Sutcliffe from Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain).

Photography still found its feet in the first decades after its invention in the first half of the 19th century. Because it created images, many pioneers looked to an established art form, painting, for ways to approach the art. As a result, they tended to photograph subjects in studios or controlled environments to recreate fashionable pastoral or mythical scenes. One young photographer rebelled against the popular conventions by taking his camera into the costal environment surrounding Whitby, England.

The divergence from a path

Thomas Sutcliffe, a noted English watercolor artist, pushed his son to become an artist. He did not believe that the new-fangled photography was a legitimate art form. In 1871, he died while he was only 43 years old.

A year later, young Frank pursued photography as a profession, despite the disdain some people held for it. He had experimented with it during his teenage years, but now he threw himself into the world. His first commission was to photograph nearby tourist sites for Francis Frith.

To grow his enterprise, he established a studio in Tunbridge Wells, nearer to the homes of the well-heeled…

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C.S. Voll
Full Frame

A scholar and writer wearing many ill-fitting hats, trying to do the best he can with what he has.