Hugh Welch Diamond

(b Kent, 23 Oct 1808; d Twickenham, Middx, 21 June 1886). English photographer. The son of a surgeon with the East India Company, he was educated at Norwich Grammar School, the Royal College of Surgeons and Bethlem Hospital. During the early 1850s Diamond photographed many mentally ill women patients at the Surrey County Asylum, Wandsworth, where he was superintendent. He claimed that these photographs were used both as medical records and for self-discussion in the treatment of some patients. Throughout the 1850s his portraits of the mentally ill dominated reviews of exhibitions of photographs. His paper 'On the Application of Photography to the Physiognomy and Mental Phenomena of Insanity' was read before the Royal Society on 22 May 1856. A number of his photographs, translated into engravings and accompanied by case studies, were published in the Medical Times and Gazette. Diamond was one of the earliest photographic experimenters: in April 1839 he had made photogenic drawings (photograms) of feathers and lace. He was a close friend and the doctor of Frederick Scott Archer (1813-57), the inventor of the wet collodion process (see PHOTOGRAPHY,

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Diamond, Hugh Welch (1808-86), English doctor and amateur photographer. He studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and first practised in Soho, where he became interested in mental illness. From 1848 to 1858, after a period at London's Bethlem Hospital (‘Bedlam’), he headed the women's section of the Surrey County Asylum. Subsequently he opened a private clinic for women at Twickenham. Diamond took up photography early in his career, acquired extensive knowledge of the calotype and other processes, and with Frederick Scott Archer experimented with collodion. From 1851 he began to photograph his female patients in simple poses against a plain background, and can thus be claimed to have founded the photography of mental illness. He showed the portraits at exhibitions of the photographic Society of London (later Royal Photographic Society) and was a key figure in amateur photography in the 1850s. He introduced various technical improvements and published articles in several journals. In 1853 he became secretary of the Photographic Society, and between 1859 and 1864 edited the Photographic Journal. He was also active as a landscape photographer and was interested in archaeology.

— Jens Jaeger

Bibliography

• Bloore, C., Hugh Welch Diamond: Doctor, Antiquarian, Photographer (1980)

Hugh Welch Diamond (1809 – June 21, 1886) was one of the earliest photographers, and made a major contribution to the progress of the craft.

A doctor by profession, he opened private practice in Soho, London, and then decided to specialise in the treatment of mental patients, being appointed to Brookwood Hospital, the Surrey County Asylum. Diamond was one of the founders of the Photographic Society, was later its Secretary and also became the editor of the Photographic Journal.

He used photography to treat mental disorders; some of his many calotypes depicting the expressions of people suffering from mental disorders are particularly moving. These were used not only for record purposes, but also, he claimed in the treatment of patients, although there is little evidence of success.

Perhaps it is for his attempts to popularize photography and to lessen its mystique that Diamond is best remembered. He wrote many articles and was a popular lecturer, and he also sought to encourage younger photographers. Among the latter was Henry Peach Robinson, who was later to refer to Diamond as a "father figure" of photography.

Recognition for his encouragement and for his willingness to share his knowledge came in 1855, in the form of a testimonial amounting to £300 for services to photography; among those who subscribed were such people as Delamotte, Fenton and George Shadbolt. In 1867, the Photographic Society awarded its Medal in recognition of "his long and successful labours as one of the principal pioneers of the photographic art and of his continuing endeavours for its advancement." The following year, at his own initiative, he relinquished any further salary as Secretary of the Society, and became its Hon. Secretary.

References

• Leggat, Dr Robert MA M.Ed Ph.D. FRPS FRSA, A History of Photography from its Beginnings till the 1920s, 1999.

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