George Washington Wilson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Washington Wilson (7 February 1823 - 9 March 1893) was a pioneering Scottish photographer.
After studying art in Edinburgh and Paris, Wilson returned to his native city of Aberdeen in 1849 and built his first camera. There he established himself as Scotland's premier portrait photographer, famously photographing Queen Victoria in 1855. He went on to pioneer techniques for photography outside of the studio and the mass production of photographic prints. By 1864 he claimed to have sold over half a million prints. At the time of his death in 1893 his business employed 40 staff and was the largest publisher of photographic prints in the world.
Over 40,000 of Wilson's photographic plates still exist today, largely due to the meticulous washing and chemical treatments he insisted on. Aberdeen University is in possession of those donated by an Aberdeen photographer, the late Archibald J.B. Strachan, in 1958. The University also cares for a second significant collection discovered in a private house in Aberdeen in 1970.
