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 temple palace, Medinet Haboo [Habu], 1857
233 x 156 mm. A view showing the ruins of the Palace of Rameses II at Medinet Haboo with an Arab and his horse standing in the courtyard in the foreground.
The town and lake of Tiberias, from the north, 1857
224 x 151 mm. A view from the north-west looking over the town and towards the lake with the ruins of the roman castle and a modern brick wall in the foreground, about which Frith comments: 'I would have given anything in reason to have been able to play the artist, and omit.'
The town and lake of Tiberias, from the north, 1860
226 x 153 mm. A view from the north-west looking over the town and towards the lake with the ruins of the roman castle and a modern brick wall in the foreground
The town and lake of Tiberias from the south, 1857
232 x 152 mm. A view looking towards the houses of the town which run down to the shores of Lake Tiberias, with roman ruins in the foreground, described by Frith as : 'a most wretchedly forlorn and dirty-looking assemblage of houses, or hovels of ultra-oriental character.'
The Tyropean Valley, 1857
229 x 156 mm. A view showing a section of southern Jerusalem with thick growths of prickly pear cactus in the foreground, the houses of the town beyond and the dome of the Mosque of Omar visible behind two cypress trees. The remains of ancient bridge or viaduct, known as 'Dr Robinson's Arch' can be seen just to the right of centre of the print .
The Valley of Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem, 1860
227 x 160 mm. A view looking along the Valley of Jehoshaphat with the Mount of Olives in the background. In the foreground is the Jewish burial ground with tombstones and sepulchres. The furthest sepulchre is the Tomb of Absalom, the nearest the Tomb of Zechariah.
The village of Siloam and the Valley of Kidron, 1860
227 x 157 mm. A view looking along the valley at the small village of low square houses on the hillside south-east of Jerusalem. This view looks south from the northern end of the village.
The Wadee El-Mukattab, Sinai, 1860
Tiberias, from the south, 1860
226 x 157 mm. A view looking towards the houses of the town which run down to the shores of Lake Tiberias, with roman ruins in the foreground.
Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, 1857
View at Girgeh [Jirja], Upper Egypt, 1857
154 x 226 mm. A view looking towards the Nile with the tower of a ruined mosque standing on the banks and balanced in the composition by two palm trees in the foreground. Frith states that there are also huts in the foreground which were: 'composed of Doura straw, and are the temporary portable homes a troupe of Gawazee, or dancing girls.'
View at Hebron, 1857
216 x 145 mm. A view looking over rocky ground (the ruined foundations of a former settlement) towards the western or Jewish quarter of the town, a closely-packed mass of low square buildings surrounded by hills.
View at Karnac from the granite pylon, 1857
227 x 156 mm. A view looking from the granite pylon over the tumbled ruins of Karnac towards two distant obelisks (?obelisks of Thut-mose I and Queen Hat-shepsut).
View at Luxor, 1857
View from Philae, looking north, 1857
234 x 152 mm. A view showing the temple colonnades at the left of the print with the Nile winding away through a rocky landscape beyond. The island of Philae lies above the Asswan Dam, completed in 1906, and when the sluices were closed, the island was submerged. With the building of the second dam the problem of the survival of the monuments at Philae became acute and a twenty year project to remove the buildings to Agilkia has recently been completed.
View Hebron, 1860
214 x 143 mm. A view looking over rocky ground (the ruined foundations of a former settlement) towards the western or Jewish quarter of the town, a closely-packed mass of low square buildings surrounded by hills.
View on the Island of Philae, 1857
229 x 152 mm. A view showing part of the temple of Isis and the colonnade leading up to it, with broken rubble and stone in the foreground.
Wady Kardassy, Nubia, 1857
229 x 167 mm. A view showing a four pillared ruin on the banks of the Nile. Sir G. Wilkinson named the site 'Gertasse', which Frith expounds on in the commentary which accompanies this print.
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