Francis Frith (also spelled Frances Frith) (October 31, 1822 – February 25, 1898) was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom.
Frith was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, attending the Quaker schools at Ackworth and Quaker Camp Hill in Birmingham (ca. 1828–1838), before he started in the cutlery business. Leaving in 1850 to start a photographic studio known as Frith & Hayward in Liverpool. A successful grocer, and later, printer, Frith fostered an interest in photography, becoming a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853.[1] Frith sold his companies in 1855 in order to dedicate himself entirely to photography. He journeyed to the Middle East on three occasions, the first of which was a trip to Egypt in 1856 with very large cameras (16" x 20"). He used the collodion process, a major technical achievement in hot and dusty conditions.
Travels with a camera
During his travels he noted that tourists were the main consumers of the views of Italy, but armchair travellers bought scenes from other parts of the world in the hope of obtaining a true record, "far beyond anything that is in the power of the most accomplished artist to transfer to his canvas." These words express the ambitious goal that Frith set for himself when he departed on his first trip to the Nile Valley in 1856. He also made two other trips before 1860, extending his photo-taking to Palestine and Syria. In addition to photography, he also kept a journal during his travels elaborating on the difficulties of the trip, commenting on the "smothering little tent" and the collodion fizzing - boiling up over the glass. Frith also noticed the compositional problems regarding the point of view from the camera. According to Frith, "the difficulty of getting a view satisfactorily in the camera: foregrounds are especially perverse; distance too near or too far; the falling away of the ground; the intervention of some brick wall or other common object... Oh what pictures we would make if we could command our point of views." An image he took known as the "Approach to Philae" is just one example which elaborates his ability to find refreshing photographic solutions to these problems. (cited from "A World History of Photography")
Francis Frith & Co. and Marriage
When he had finished his travels in the Middle East in 1859, he opened the firm of Francis Frith & Co.[2] in Reigate, Surrey, as the world's first specialist photographic publisher. In 1860, he married Mary Ann Rosling (sister of Alfred Rosling, the first treasurer of the Photographic Society) and embarked upon a colossal project — to photograph every town and village in the United Kingdom; in particular, notable historical or interesting sights. Initially he took the photographs himself, but as success came, he hired people to help him and set about establishing his postcard company, a firm that became one of the largest photographic studios in the world. Within a few years, over two thousand shops throughout the United Kingdom were selling his postcards.
Quaker
Francis Frith was "recorded" a Quaker minister in 1872 (at this time there were little more than 250 recorded ministers in England and Wales). He undertook his share of administrative duties, serving on numerous committees, and frequently spoke in favour of pacifism and abstinence. He was an occasional contributor of philosophical and religious articles and poems to the Quaker journal, the Friends' Quarterly Examiner.[3]
In his sixties, Frith positioned himself at the extreme liberal wing of society. In 1884, he published (with William Pollard and William Turner) A Reasonable Faith, a highly controversial pamphlet which challenged evangelical orthodoxy by questioning the factuality of the Bible. Although the liberal views expressed in A Reasonable Faith were quickly and vociferously attacked by leading evangelical Quakers, liberal theology rapidly gained support and within ten years became the majority view. Thus it was Francis Frith and his co-authors who began the liberalisation of the Quaker movement and paved the way for the philanthropic and educational reforms for which the movement is well known today.
Death
Frith died in Canne, France at his villa on February 25, 1898.
Francis Frith & Co. continues
His family continued the firm, which was finally sold in 1968 and closed in 1970. Following closure of the business in 1970, Bill Jay, one of Britain's first photography historians, identified the archive as being nationally important, and "at risk". Jay managed to persuade Rothmans, the tobacco company, to purchase the archive to ensure its safety.
Frith was re-launched in 1976 as The Francis Frith Collection[4] by John Buck, a Rothmans executive, with the intention of making the Frith photographs available to as wide an audience as possible.
In 1977, John Buck bought the archive from Rothmans and has continued to run it as an independent business since that time - trading as The Francis Frith Collection - see www.francisfrith.co.uk.
References
- ^ The current organisation called "Liverpool Photographic Society" claims to have been founded in 1952. The South Liverpool Photographic Society. Accessed 15 June 2008.
- ^ Canadian Centre for Architecture; Collections Online, s.v. "Francis Frith & Co.". Accessed 15 June 2008.
- ^ FQE was published 1867 to 1946 under that title and from 1946 as Friends Quarterly.
- ^ * Francis Frith Collection website. Accessed 15 June 2008.
