Pye Collection (267 Items)

Pye Collection

The collection consists of 422 photos which were donated by the St Just in Rosalind and St Mawes Heritage Group. The collection consists of images of people and views from a number of photographers who were working in Cornwall from the mid 19th Century.
It seems that almost every town in Cornwall had one or more photographers working in studios. Brooks, Beringer, Burrow, Collenso, Gibson and Preston are just some of those.
Many won awards for their work and won medals awarded by the Cornwall Polytechnic Society which opened in Falmouth in 1833.
Carte-de-visite became very popular after 1854, often used as calling cards containing the photographic mount, there are many examples of this type.
It is apparent that people turned up in their "Sunday Best" to be photographed , it is interesting to note the fashion changes over time from the Victorian era to the Edwardian.
All the while changes were taking place with the photographic process, from plate and gradually to film and negative and the digital process that we have today.
This collection is a very interesting record of the work of the Victorian photographer.