Sheffield Photographic Society group outing 1865. Source: Picture Sheffield.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century obtaining an image of oneself involved sitting for several hours to have your portrait painted. In the latter decades of the century it was much more usual, cheaper, and quicker to have your image taken by a photographer.
The first photographic studio appeared in Sheffield in the late 1840s and by 1868 a local trade directory listed 31 commercial studios. It became a competitive marketplace with photographers having to be knowledgeable and skilful in photographic processes, work with dangerous chemicals, carry substantial amounts of equipment around with them and have sales techniques that sold their products.
As well as images of people, photographers used their skills to record buildings, royalty, and travel scenes, with press photography becoming an important way for spreading information about notable events and natural disasters. The early decades of the twentieth century were the heyday for real-photo postcards with millions sent every week on every conceivable subject.
You can read more about the photographers in the Cemetery in the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust’s publication Beyond the Lens.
