John Falconer, British Library
A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia |
Amateur, India
At the 1859 exhibition of the Madras Photographic Society, ‘Mr Butcher exhibits 8 excellent views taken in the neighbourhood of Seringapatam the subjects of which are very interesting and characteristic. Mr Butcher, has proved himself to be a most promising photographer, but there is room for improvement in his productions, there being too much contrast in the lights and shades, and a deficiency of half tones. It is to hoped that Mr Butcher’s work will be seen in future exhibitions. Besides the above 20 views which he was good enough to present about a year ago to the Society were also exhibited. The subject of these are all very interesting. The printing is goodand appears to be very permanent, there being as yet no symptoms of fading among them. They have all however the same defect above noted, which we hope to see rectified in the future works of this photographer. As before stated, the Silver Medal relinquished by Captain Tripe was awarded to this collection.’[1]
At the Madras Photographic Society Exhibition of 1860-61, ‘Mr Butcher, Esq., exhibited 12 photographic prints from callotype negatives, the subjects being chiefly views of pagodas near Mysore; the best are no. 2 Temples upon Indrabetta, no. 3 the Alasoor Pagoda and no. 6, the Brasava Temple near Bangalore. The lights in some of these are rather too white and the shadows black, but this is an obstacle that nearly all photographers in India have to contend with, arising from the intensity of the sun’s rays’.[2]
Footnotes
- Λ Madras Journal of Literature and Science, no.9, new series, Apr-Sep 1859, pp. 188.
- Λ Madras Journal of Literature and Science, no.11, new series, May 1861, pp.195.
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