Frith, Francis, 1822 -1898 (photographer)
Biography
Francis Frith was born on December 7th 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, to a Quaker family (Sackett 1994). He was educated at Ackworth School and Quaker Camp Hill School in Birmingham (Browne and Partnow 1983, p.212). After serving an apprenticeship with a Sheffield cutlery firm, he began a wholesale grocery firm, Liverpool, and later a printing firm (Sackett 1994). He took up photography in 1850 and in the mid-1850s retired from his successful business career. In 1853 he was one of the founders of the Liverpool Photographic Society (Turner 1995, p794). He made his first photographic visit to Egypt in 1856-57. He travelled on the Nile and photographed from Cairo to Abu Simbel. On his return he published a series of views which were enthusiastically received. He made a second trip with his assistant Frank Mason Good in late 1857. A third photographic trip was made in 1859 when Frith travelled beyond the Sixth Cataract. On his return from this third trip Frith set up as a photographer and publisher. His company produced a detailed record of English villages and towns, eventually becoming the largest mass production company in Europe. For a list of Frith photographic publications see: Gernsheim, Helmut (1984), 'Incunabula of British photographic literature : a bibliography of British books illustrated with original photographs'. London: Scolar in association with Derbyshire College of Higher Education.
In 1860 Frith married Mary Ann Rosling. They had five sons and three daughters. Frith died on February 25th 1898. His sons Eustace and Cyril continued the business (Sackett 1994). The firm survived until the 1960s.
Sources:
Browne, Turner and Partnow, Elaine (1983), 'Macmillian biographical encyclopedia of photographic artists and innovators'. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Sackett, Terrance R. (1993) 'Francis Frith'. In: Dictionary of National Biography [CD-ROM]. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Turner, Jane ed. (1996), 'The dictionary of art'. Volume 11. New York: Grove.
Found in 118 Collections and/or Records:
The Convent of Sinai and Plain of Er-Raha, 1860
The court of Shishak, Karnac, 1857
159 x 223 mm. A view showing the remains of part of the temple of Amon at Karnac with painted hieroglyphs on the standing walls and fallen pillars and debris littering the foreground.
The granite pylon, Thebes, 1857
225 x 160 mm. A view showing the ruins of a gateway at Karnac built from large blocks of granite. Frith compares these ruins to the gateway seen in Y30214A/25: '... the present view represents an older, more massive, but less elegant and less elaborately sculptured, edifice which I have called the Granite Pylon, in consequence of its being, as I believe, the only existing extensive pylon-gateway constructed solely of that material.'
The great pillars and smaller temple, Baalbec [Ba`labakk], 1857
161 x 234 mm. A view showing five of the pillars of the Great Temple with the smaller temple visible beyond.
The great pillars and smaller temple, Baalbec [Ba`labakk], 1860
162 x 227 mm. A view showing five of the pillars of the Great Temple with the smaller temple visible beyond.
The great pillars, etc, Baalbec [Ba`labakk], 1857
156 x 223 mm. A view showing the six remaining columns of the Great Temple standing among the ruins.
The great pylon at Edfou, Upper Egypt, 1857
232 x 163 mm. A view showing the massive entrance to the temple of Horus at Edfu, with a group of Europeans standing at the base of the pylon on which are sculpted various scenes. The drifting sand, which in this print reaches to the top of the wall behind the pylon on which are sculpted various scenes, has subsequently been removed to leave a temple in a remarkable state of preservation.
The largest of the Cedars, Mount Lebanon, 1857
233 x 164 mm. A view showing an ancient Cedar, which Frith describes as : 'many-stemmed, fantastic, wide-spreading giant', in a grove of younger trees.
The largest of the Cedars, Mount Lebanon, 1860
227 x 158 mm. A view showing an ancient Cedar tree.
The Memnonium, Thebes, 1857
225 x 157 mm. A view showing two of the still standing halls of the Memnonium (more properly the Ramesseum) with an Egyptian and a camel in the foreground.
The mosque of Aksa, Jerusalem, 1860
227 x 160 mm. A view looking along the city wall at the southern end of the city towards the mosque of Aksa, with the valley of Jehoshaphat and the Mount of Olives in the distance.
The mosque of Omar, etc, Jerusalem, 1857
233 x 165 mm. A view taken from near St. Stevens gate looking towards the pool of Bethesda, the mosque of Omar and Aksa (partially obscured by smoke from a chimney in the foreground) and with the houses of the modern city on the right.
The Mosque of Omar, etc, Jerusalem, 1860
219 x 159 mm. A view looking along the city wall towards the dome of the mosque of Omar and 'El Haram-esh-Sherif', the Holy Sanctuary, with the houses of the city beyond. With wasteland and cactus in the left foreground.
The New English Church etc. from the Tower of Hippicus, Jerusalem, 1857
The north shore of the Dead Sea, 1857
228 x 152 mm. A view looking along the shore of the sea with dead vegetation littering the beach.
The north shore of the Dead Sea, 1860
220 x 158 mm. A fine landscape photograph looking along the barren shores of the Dead Sea with bleached driftwood in the foreground and hills in the distance.
The Pool of Bethesda, 1860
231 x 162 mm. A view taken from near St. Stevens gate looking towards the pool of Bethesda, the mosque of Omar and Aksa (partially obscured by smoke from a chimney in the foreground) and with the houses of the modern city on the right.
The Pool of Hezekiah, 1860
227 x 161 mm. A view from the tower of Hippicus looking on the pool of Hezekiah with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the background.
The pool of Hezekiah etc. from the tower of Hippicus, Jerusalem, 1857
232 x 158 mm. A view looking down on the pool of Hezekiah, enclosed on all sides by buildings (among them 'The Mediterranean' Hotel), with the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre beyond.
The Sphynx and Great Pyramid, Gezeh [i.e. Giza], 1857
229 x 157 mm. A composition showing a profile of the Sphinx's head in the foreground with the pyramid beyond, and figures at the foot of the Spinx. According to Frith: 'The profile, as given in my view, is truly hideous'. This viewpoint occurs again and again in photographs of Gizeh pyramids, but it is interesting in that, when compared with a modern photograph of the same scene, it shows the degree of excavation that has been carried out in the area of the Sphinx.
The statue of Memnon, Plain of Thebes, 1857
232 x 155 mm. A view showing the two vast seated statues of Amenophis III which were erected in front of the mortuary temple, now disappeared. In the foreground are two Europeans and an Egyptian. The central figure (leaning on a rifle) is identified in 'Creative Camera' (December 1979) in a similar, though not identical view, as being Frith himself.
The statues of Memnon, plain of Thebes, 1857
150 x 224 mm. A view showing a close up of the statues in a vertical formal. There is an European holding a rifle, and a camel, standing in the foreground.
The street called Straight, Damascus, 1860
114 x 142 mm. A view looking through the eastern gate and along the cobbled street, with ramshackle houses lining the way.
The summit of Gebel Moosa, Sinai, 1860
The temple of Maharraka, Nubia, 1857
227 x 155 mm. A view showing the imposing columns and ruins of the unfinished temple of Maharraka.
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 116
- Collection 2
- Subject
- Asia (continent) 64
- Africa (continent) 56
- Israel (nation) 46
- Egypt (nation) 36
- Upper Egypt (region) 35
- Jerusalem (district (national)) 25
- Qina (governate) 21
- Egypt (former nation/state/empire) 20
- Thebes (deserted settlement) 18
- Lebanon (nation) 14
- Aswan (governorate) 11
- Nile River (river) 11
- Syria (nation) 11
- Jerusalem (inhabited place) 10
- Palestine (historic region) 10
- Philae (deserted settlement) 10
- West Bank (occupied territory) 9
- Al-Biqa` (governorate) 8
- Ba`labakk (inhabited place) 8
- Desert (region) 8
- Nubia (general region) 7
- Janub Sina' (governate) 6
- Northern (district (national)) 6
- Damascus (inhabited place) 5
- Dead Sea (salt lake) 5
- Dimashq (governorate) 5
- Dimashq City (municipality) 5
- Sinai (peninsula) 5
- Gaza Strip (occupied territory) 4
- Medinet Habu (ruins) 4
- Sea of Galilee (lake) 4
- Hebron (inhabited place) 3
- Al-Qunaytirah (governate) 2
- Armant (inhabited place) 2
- Baniyas (inhabited place) 2
- Gaza City (inhabited place) 2
- Golan Heights (annex) 2
- Jhansi (inhabited place) 2
- Luxor (inhabited place) 2
- Matruh (governate) 2
- Nazareth (inhabited place) 2
- Pyramids of Giza (ruins) 2
- Shechem (deserted settlement) 2
- Upper East (region) 2
- Abai (state) 1
- Aswan (inhabited place) 1
- Bethlehem (inhabited place) 1
- HaMerkaz, Mehoz (district (national)) 1
- India (nation) 1
- Jirja (inhabited place) 1
- Kings, Valley of the (burial site) 1
- Musa, Gebel (mountain) 1
- Ramla (inhabited place) 1
- Sawhaj (governorate) 1 + ∧ less