Literature

A photograph gives us the naked truth which has to be clothed by the imagination.”~ Frank Meadow Sutcliffe Mr. Sutcliffe was born in the town of Leeds, England a mere 14 years after the birth of photography. He took up photography in 1871. From 1872 to 1873 he photographed the castles and abbeys of Yorkshire for Francis Frith, a pioneer photographer of his time. He then set up on his own opening a studio in Whitby in North Yorkshire, England and developed a great affection and respect for the town and its people which shows through his work.He became more and more respected and was a founding member of The Linked Ring, a group of pictorialist photographers based in London in 1892. This is one of his greatest photographs and so rare to find in such perfect condition for a print that is over 130 years old.A group of young boys all standing in a row with their backs to the camera wearing hand me down clothes and leaning over a wall to look down at something. One wonders what it is they are all looking at that is holding their attention. Well that’s the mystery and power of photography.