Maker/Artist
Hill, David Octavius
Scottish painter and photographer, 1802-1870
In 1821 Hill learned lithography and published a series of landscapes of Perthshire, Scotland. In 1843 Hill decided to use photography to capture the images of the clergymen involved in the disruption of the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland, which he used as visual aids for a large oil painting. Since he was unfamiliar with the calotype process he asked Robert Adamson to assist him. In 1843 Hill and Robert Adamson formed a partnership and established a studio at Rock House, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland, where Adamson was in charge of photographing and the chemical processes and Hill was artistic director overseeing costumes and arrangement of the sitters. This partnership lasted until the death of Adamson in 1848. Hill abandoned the studio a few months after Adamson's death, giving up photography for painting. Hill returned to photography in the 1850s using the wet plate process. He also collaborated with A. McGlashan (n.d.) from 1860 to 1862 and used the collodion process. He died 17 May 1870. Scottish painter. Comment on works: Landscapes
