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Work of pioneering war photographer Olive Edis to be showcased online Work of pioneering war photographer Olive Edis to be showcased online
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The work of Britain’s first female war photographer is being brought together for the first time in an online archive.The work of Britain’s first female war photographer is being brought together for the first time in an online archive.
Olive Edis, who was born in 1876, had forged a career in glass plate photography from her studio in Sheringham, north Norfolk, and made a name for herself taking portraits of a wide variety of subjects, from Norfolk fishermen to the royal family.Olive Edis, who was born in 1876, had forged a career in glass plate photography from her studio in Sheringham, north Norfolk, and made a name for herself taking portraits of a wide variety of subjects, from Norfolk fishermen to the royal family.
Her many photos have been housed in galleries around the world, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the National Media Museum in Bradford, and the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.Her many photos have been housed in galleries around the world, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the National Media Museum in Bradford, and the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.
But with a £81,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Norfolk museums service aims to create a digital archive by October that will bring together the work and journals of Edis, who visited the western front at the end of the first world war, and photographed women and their roles during the conflict in Europe and on the home front. But with an £81,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Norfolk Museums Service aims to create a digital archive by October that will bring together the work and journals of Edis, who visited the western front at the end of the first world war, and photographed women and their roles during the conflict in Europe and on the home front.
The project also aims to transform the world’s largest collection of Edis’s work, held at Cromer Museum in Norfolk, enabling visitors to use smartphone and touchscreen technology to make the archive more accessible.The project also aims to transform the world’s largest collection of Edis’s work, held at Cromer Museum in Norfolk, enabling visitors to use smartphone and touchscreen technology to make the archive more accessible.
Alistair Murphy, Cromer Museum’s curator, told the Guardian: “One of the great strength of Olive is that she used natural light. She uses these rather old-fashioned glass plate negatives, and although the photographs are taken in quite formal circumstances, you got relaxation and informality out of her subjects.” Alistair Murphy, Cromer Museum’s curator, said: “One of the great strengths of Olive is that she used natural light. She uses these rather old-fashioned glass plate negatives, and although the photographs are taken in quite formal circumstances, you got relaxation and informality out of her subjects.”
He added: “This points to Olive’s ability, I feel, to be able to put all of her subjects at rest. She took photographs right across the social spectrum.”He added: “This points to Olive’s ability, I feel, to be able to put all of her subjects at rest. She took photographs right across the social spectrum.”
Edis used a large, bulky square camera on a tripod with a black hood, like the type seen in old silent films, according to Murphy. “She tended to use this technology which was probably quite dated by the 1930s. People had moved on to taking photographs with film.”Edis used a large, bulky square camera on a tripod with a black hood, like the type seen in old silent films, according to Murphy. “She tended to use this technology which was probably quite dated by the 1930s. People had moved on to taking photographs with film.”
Murphy, who has been studying Edis’s work for the last eight years, said he had spoken to a local man who met the photographer. “I asked him, ‘If you were casting actresses to play the part of Olive in a film, who would you pick?’ And he said a young Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote. That was the type of character she had.” Murphy, who has been studying Edis’s work for the last eight years, said he had spoken to a local man who met the photographer. “I asked him :‘If you were casting actresses to play the part of Olive in a film, who would you pick?’ And he said a young Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote. That was the type of character she had.”
Edis, who worked between 1905 and her death in 1955, was well known by her contemporaries: her photographs, printed on backing card paper monogrammed with her initials O and E in the shape of a key, were printed in newspapers and exhibited in galleries.Edis, who worked between 1905 and her death in 1955, was well known by her contemporaries: her photographs, printed on backing card paper monogrammed with her initials O and E in the shape of a key, were printed in newspapers and exhibited in galleries.
In 1917 she was commissioned to take photographs in Downing Street, Murphy said.In 1917 she was commissioned to take photographs in Downing Street, Murphy said.
Edis, who was involved in the suffragette movement, was an early user of the Lumière brothers’ autochrome technique, which produced colour photography using grains of dyed potato starch. She took some of the first colour photographs of Canada during a trip there in 1920.Edis, who was involved in the suffragette movement, was an early user of the Lumière brothers’ autochrome technique, which produced colour photography using grains of dyed potato starch. She took some of the first colour photographs of Canada during a trip there in 1920.
Famous figures who were photographed by Edis included Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George, a young Prince Albert, Nancy Astor, the first woman to take a seat in the House of Commons, the poet and author Thomas Hardy, and Henrietta Barnett, the social reformer. Famous figures who were photographed by Edis included the Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George, a young Prince Albert (the future George VI), Nancy Astor, the first woman to take a seat in the House of Commons, the poet and author Thomas Hardy, and Henrietta Barnett, the social reformer.
Robyn Llewellyn, the head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said: “Olive Edis’s work spans social, gender and geographical boundaries to provide an incredible glimpse into the personal world of her subjects, particularly those who were affected by the first world war.”Robyn Llewellyn, the head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said: “Olive Edis’s work spans social, gender and geographical boundaries to provide an incredible glimpse into the personal world of her subjects, particularly those who were affected by the first world war.”
Hilary Cox, Norfolk county councillor for Cromer, said the funding would help highlight the “courage, expertise and excellence of a woman who should be a household name.” Hilary Cox, the county councillor for Cromer, said the funding would help highlight the “courage, expertise and excellence of a woman who should be a household name”.