The collection is considered to be of local and national significance, providing evidence of some of the earliest photographic techniques, particularly those related to underground photography of Cornish mines in the late 19th century by John Charles Burrow. Our earliest image is an early ‘Talbotype’ or ‘Sun Picture’ taken by Fox Talbot in 1845, showing Plymouth Docks from Mount Edgcumbe. It also contains discrete collections by other local photographers including John Crowther, Major Arthur William Gill, Samuel John Govier, John Wheeley Gough Gutch, Lewis Harding, Herbert Hughes, Arthur William. Jordan, Arthur Philp and Charles Woolf.
We hold a variety of different formats including Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, tintypes, albumen prints, cartes de visite, cabinet cards, lantern slides, vintage and modern gelatine silver prints, C-type prints, colour transparencies, glass plate negatives, celluloid negatives, photographic albums and printed and photographic postcards. The collection also includes several reels of amateur cine film shot in the 1930s to 1970s.
In 2014, we were successfully awarded a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund to improve the access to and care of our photographic collection.
Thanks to this funding, part of our collection of over 50,000 images was digitised and re-packaged to conservation standards, so that future generations may learn and benefit from this fantastic archive. You can browse, research and buy images from our photographic collection, Media Storehouse.
