Bedford, Francis, 1816 -1894 (photographer)
Dates
- Existence: 1816 - 1894
Biography
Francis Bedford was originally an artist and lithographer, particularly of architectural subjects. He took up photography in the 1850s. In 1853 he co-founded the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (Browne and Partnow 1983, p. 44). From 1853 until 1870 he exhibited extensively at the Photographic Society and at various exhibitions (Turner 1996, p.486). He made extensive photographic tours of England and Wales and was chosen to accompany the Prince of Wales on his tour of the Middle East in 1862. The photographic results of this tour were published as 'Photographic pictures of the Egypt, the Holy Land and Syria, Constantinople, the Mediterranean, Athens etc.'. (Browne and Partnow 1983, p. 44). From 1876 to 1883 Bedford had a studio at 326 Camden Road, London (Pritchard 1994, p.36).
Sources:
Browne, Turner and Partnow, Elaine (1983), 'Macmillian biographical encyclopedia of photographic artists and innovators'. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Pritchard, Michael (1994), 'A directory of London photographers 1841-1908'. Watford: PhotoResearch.
Turner, Jane ed. (1996), 'The dictionary of art'. Volume 3. New York: Grove.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
The Holy Land [i.e. Palestine], Egypt, Constantinople [i.e. Istanbul], Athens, etc. etc. 1865
Printed volume with text by W.M. Thomson illustrated with photographs taken by Francis Bedford. The photographs were taken whilst Bedford accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour of the Middle East in 1862 and were published as an inexpensive alternative to Bedford (1863). The accompanying text in this volume is described as 'designedly of a popular character'.