This exhibition of beautiful photographs of Scottish towns, buildings and landscapes are the work of Thomas Keith, a surgeon and amateur photographer.
In 1845 Thomas Keith was apprenticed to Dr. James Young Simpson. In 1848 at the age of 21, Keith graduated from the University of Edinburgh and was appointed house surgeon in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to James Syme, the Professor of Surgery. Before starting in practice in Edinburgh, Keith spent two years in Turin as a surgeon to a family friend, the Hon. Ralph Abercromby. On his return to Edinburgh after passing the necessary examinations, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He then went into medical practice with his brother George Skene Keith in Great Stuart Street. Thomas Keith went on to specialise in gynaecology and in 1862 performed his first ovariotomy (excision of ovarian cyst), at the time, a dangerous procedure. Keith became highly respected by his peers for his surgical skill, attention to detail and his patients’ low mortality rate.
However, for a brief period of time in the 1850s, before the demands of his profession took over, he experimented with and mastered another scientific development – photography. Keith used the waxed paper process, developed by Gustave Le Gray, which he simplified and improved. He was also a founding member of the Photographic Society of Scotland and would often go on photography trips around Edinburgh with his brother-in-law and fellow wax paper process pioneer, John Forbes White.
In June 1856, Keith read a paper to the Photographic Society of Scotland explaining his methods with the waxed paper process, explaining how after some experimentation, he achieved his results, “If you were to ask me to what circumstance more than any other I attribute my success, I should say, not to any peculiarity whatever in my manipulation, or to any particular strength of the solutions I employ, but entirely to this, that I never expose my paper, unless the light is first-rate.” He also warned of atmospheric conditions, “I am quite satisfied that the commonest cause of failure arises from the paper being exposed in a bad or indifferent light, especially in town, where the atmosphere is so much adulterated with smoke.”* Keith limited his photograph taking to a few weeks in the middle of the summer, usually making his photographs before 7am in the morning or after 4pm in the afternoon when the light was softer.
Sadly, due to work demands, by 1857, Keith’s photographic career had drawn to a close. However, along with his surgical achievements, his legacy includes a remarkable body of exquisite images of Scotland providing a record of the country in the mid-1800s.
You can view more stunning photographic works in the Thomas Keith's Edinburgh exhibition.
*Source: "Thomas Keith 1827-1895, Surgeon and Photographer, The Hurd Bequest" booklet produced by Edinburgh Corporation Libraries and Museums Committee, 1966.
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