Women Photographers – hidden in plain sight

Photography in the 19th century was not just the pursuit of men, and you may be familiar with some of the more well known female photographers, including Anna Atkins, Constance Fox Talbot, and Julia Margaret Cameron. It should be acknowledged they did have access to money and time that allowed them to pursue photographer as a creative endeavour, but it was still a struggle in a highly patriarchal society. [1]

We have so far managed to identify a number of women photographers in Scarborough who were engaged in more commercial projects. Their routes into photography appear to have come about via a number of means, including being married to a photographer where they would then start taking images and often take over the buisness after their husband’s death. They may have also come in as assistants to perhaps avoid the situation of a lone male photographer being alone with a their potentially unmarried female subject, these assistants would again often get involved in the day to day productions of images. It has been hard to identify these photographers and their work as they are often hidden behind the studio names of their husbands or male bosses, so alongside the examples we have identified below there will be many that will go unacknowledged.

Mary Ann Osguthorpe born in 1843 was  married to fellow photograph Henry. After his death in 1883, Mary Ann took over main operations alongside her daughters Mary E. (b.1874), Lucy (b.1875) and Lillian (b.1876), who were most likely involved in the day to day operations, but uncredited until after Henry’s death. Adverts from after his death label her as ‘Mrs Osguthorpe, the Lady Photographer,’’ and her name appeared at the bottom of cabinet cards and other images produced. It should be noted that in the Scarborough Parish, Directory of Trades and Professions for 1890 of the 24 photographers that are listed Mary Ann is the only women photographer present, suggesting the clear lack of women at the helm of photography businesses. [2] She along with her daughters offered a variety of different images including, carte de visite and enlargements created in oils and water-colours. Her speciality was children but she would would also photograph images of dogs and groups. [3] Of the images we have located so far by Mary Ann they do actually not fit into any of these categories as include a number of cabinet cards featuring male sitters and also a book called Album of Views of Scarborough and District, published by Liverpool: Brown and Rawcliffe in 1880, which features fold out landscape photographs of Scarborough listed as being taken by Mrs Osguthorpe.

Cabinet Card by M.A Osguthorpe

We have also come across Alice Brigham, formally Alice Kellaway she was in 1881 recorded on the census as being a photographic apprentice living in Clarence Road, Cowes. She then moved to Scarborough to assist in the studio of William Dobson Brigham, soon after her arrival William’s wife Mary seems to have moved out and Alice goes on to father William’s two children and later married William after Marys death. Alice participated in image making and eventually  took over along with her son when William died. Although we are yet to find a photograph fully attributed to Alice we suspect that she may have been responsible for the initial-less image that you see below. We have noticed that with other female photographers when their partners died the male initials would often be dropped from cards, but often not replaced with the womens initials or identifying them as a women perhaps because it may have been seen to affect business if they did, but this is something that we are researching further into. [4]

carte de visite possible attribution to Alice Brigham

Lucretia Dawson, is another photographer who was operating in Scarborough, she was born in Iowa in the US in around 1871, before moving with her family to Scarborough where she was trained as a dressmaker. She married photographer Frederick William Gibson in 1895. He died only 6 years later at which point Lucretia took over the business, an advert published in 1900/1 for the studio stated that she was a ‘popular Northside photographer specialises in children, patio-bromide enlargements and artistically finished children portraiture. [5]

Although we are yet to find a picture that is directly attributed to her we think this may have been taken by her as other Gibson images would include his initials whereas this one does not (see below). The women in the photo are notable in fancy dress, in this period fancy balls were popular and costumes would often be romanticised versions of working costumes.

Cabinet Card possible attribution to Lucretia Gibson

At the turn of the 20th century, new styles of photography came in and we have come across a number of women who were active during this period. These included Florena Quayle, who operated a little later than the other photographers featured, although information is sparse we have located a postcard with her name and address, 30 Newborough, Scarborough embossed on it. The curly bob hair style of the sitter suggests that the picture was taken in the early 1920s. Florena not only appears to have worked in Scarborough as the 1922 Gore’s Directory for Liverpool lists her as a photographer with a studio at 62 Bold Street. It should also be noted that she is one of only 7 women photographer of the 107 listed in the city of Liverpool, which gives a clear indication of the gender imbalance that was present amongst trade photographers at the time. [6] A further photographer is Jean Bowes she had a studio above the Central Tramway on Marine Parade in Scarborough in the early part of the 20th Century, we have discovered little information about her so far, but her focus appears to be on portraits and postcards.

There are a number of further photographers that we are currently researching including Clara King and if you have any further information about her or other photographers do get in touch.

Postcard with unknown woman by Florena Quayle

Postcard with unknown couple by Jean Bowes

References

[1] Some more information about non-male Photographers include: https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/women-photographers and https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/julia-margaret-cameron?srsltid=AfmBOopL1Nbz8VEFxfzZtVO5vNlDH8LIFlyweZoyTcStMAwH0OKB_qwm and https://www.ashmolean.org/article/how-victorian-women-shaped-colour-technologies

[2] ‘Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades for SCARBOROUGH in Bulmer's Directory of 1890.’ genuki, https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Scarborough/Scarborough90Dry

[3] Bayliss, A. and P., 1998, p63, Scarborough Evening News, 18 September 1889 (British Newspaper Archive). Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 7 September 1908, (British Newspaper Archive)
Entry to Album of Views of Scarborough and District, published by Liverpool: Brown and Rawcliffe in 1880 by Osguthorpe: https://www.ebay.com/itm/226227082684

[4] Bayliss, A. and P., 1998, p42, Benjamin Fawcett of Driffield - Dobson Biography (accessed 10 April 2024)

[5] Bayliss, A. and P., 1998.

[6] 1922 Gores Directory, Liverpool. - Liverpool Photographers

all photographs featured on this page belong to Photo Scarborough