Patrick Byrne 1843 - 1847

This is "Patrick Byrne," a calotype print made in Scotland between 1843 and 1848 by the pioneering photography duo of David Hill and Robert Adamson. In this period, photography was emerging from elite scientific and artistic circles to become a widely accessible medium. Hill and Adamson made it their business to represent a broad range of Scottish society. The choice of subject here is striking. Byrne, an Irish harpist, is shown seated, with his instrument, in a rather theatrical pose. One might ask, what does it mean to represent this musician with a device that was then at the cutting edge of technology? Is this an attempt to modernize him, or to elevate the status of photography itself by associating it with established cultural forms? By consulting the archives, exhibition records, and other documents, we can begin to consider the social and institutional contexts that gave rise to such an image. In doing so, we find a richer understanding of the artwork's meaning as a product of its time.