DOI Heft:
No. 162 (September, 1906)
DOI Artikel:Neil, C. Lang: The animal photographs of Charles Reid
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0348
Charles Reid's Animal Photographs
A FLOCK OF SHEEP FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES REID
(Copyright, the Autotype Co.)
The animal photographs
OF CHARLES REID. BY C.
LANG NEIL.
The artist who paints with a purpose searches
high and low, far and wide, for studies for the
details of his pictures, and many a postponement
of the painting which is to contain his best work is
the result. Difficult as it is for the wielder of the
pencil and brush to secure the setting for his sub
ject, he may yet obtain a point here and another
there, until he produces a design which is finally
just what he desires. The pictorial photographer
has a much harder task in this respect. He
must be able to bring his subject to the surround-
ings wished for, and at such time as the light is
favourable. He cannot cut out or alter any part
of his background, but must find his picture
complete before he begins to make it permanent.
As far as it is possible to make outdoor animal
photography an art, Mr. Charles Reid has certainly
done so ; many of his photographs are included in
the art publications of the Autotype Company, and
few artists who paint animals are without some of
them for use as studies. He now ranks as a
veteran in the art, and is assisted by his sons,
who usually join in the long tramps over hill
and fell in search of a noted Highland herd, or
hunting for the nest of a prolific bird-parent
rejoicing in a particularly fine brood of fledglings.
As a boy he was employed to watch cows, and
great was his desire to emulate a fellow herdboy who
made rough pencil sketches of the cattle under his
charge. Finances however forbade the luxury of
anything in the way of an art education, and he
became apprenticed to a shoemaker. One day in
1S53 his employer brought into the workshop a
portrait of himself—a daguerreotype—and much
astonished his employes by affirming that no brush
or pencil had been used in its production, but
that he had merely sat quite still for one minute
before a machine which by means of light had
3*7
A FLOCK OF SHEEP FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLES REID
(Copyright, the Autotype Co.)
The animal photographs
OF CHARLES REID. BY C.
LANG NEIL.
The artist who paints with a purpose searches
high and low, far and wide, for studies for the
details of his pictures, and many a postponement
of the painting which is to contain his best work is
the result. Difficult as it is for the wielder of the
pencil and brush to secure the setting for his sub
ject, he may yet obtain a point here and another
there, until he produces a design which is finally
just what he desires. The pictorial photographer
has a much harder task in this respect. He
must be able to bring his subject to the surround-
ings wished for, and at such time as the light is
favourable. He cannot cut out or alter any part
of his background, but must find his picture
complete before he begins to make it permanent.
As far as it is possible to make outdoor animal
photography an art, Mr. Charles Reid has certainly
done so ; many of his photographs are included in
the art publications of the Autotype Company, and
few artists who paint animals are without some of
them for use as studies. He now ranks as a
veteran in the art, and is assisted by his sons,
who usually join in the long tramps over hill
and fell in search of a noted Highland herd, or
hunting for the nest of a prolific bird-parent
rejoicing in a particularly fine brood of fledglings.
As a boy he was employed to watch cows, and
great was his desire to emulate a fellow herdboy who
made rough pencil sketches of the cattle under his
charge. Finances however forbade the luxury of
anything in the way of an art education, and he
became apprenticed to a shoemaker. One day in
1S53 his employer brought into the workshop a
portrait of himself—a daguerreotype—and much
astonished his employes by affirming that no brush
or pencil had been used in its production, but
that he had merely sat quite still for one minute
before a machine which by means of light had
3*7