Newhaven Fishwives, Jeanie Wilson and Annie Linton

1845

and Robert Adamson

(British, 1821–1848)

Culture

England, 19th century

Medium

salted paper print from calotype negative

Measurements

Image: 29.5 x 14.4 cm (11 5/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1987.18

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Description

Hill and Adamson’s four-year collaboration yielded around 3,000 photographs, including portraits of members of the middle and upper classes and, in what may be the first social documentary project, of the working class. Included in their survey of contemporary life were numerous portraits of the fishermen’s wives in the villages around Edinburgh. The women, garbed in distinctive striped skirts and aprons, cleaned their husbands’ catch, then carried it in wicker baskets to the city where they offered it for sale. They were reported to be hard bargainers. Hill and Adamson respectfully recorded not only their likenesses but also their names.