THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR BY FRANCIS FRITH

FRANCIS FRITH  (1822-1898) 

 Rock of Gibraltar  (426 m -1,398 ft)
United Kingdom - Spain border

1.  In Rock of Gibraltar, photo Collodion  process, 1850 

2.  In Rock of Gibraltar by an anonymous painter, oil on canvas,  1810  

The mountain

The Rock of Gibraltar  (426 m -1,398 ft) in spanish : El Peсуn de Gibraltar, sometimes called by its original Latin name, Calpe, is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is 426 m (1,398 ft) high. The Rock is Crown property of the United Kingdom, and borders Spain. Most of the Rock's upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 300 Barbary macaques. These macaques, as well as a labyrinthine network of tunnels, attract a large number of tourists each year.  The Rock of Gibraltar was one of the Pillars of Hercules and was known to the Romans as Mons Calpe, the other pillar being Mons Abyla or Jebel Musa on the African side of the Strait. In ancient times, the two points marked the limit to the known world, a myth originally fostered by the Greeks and the Phoenicians.

Gibraltar is not the southernmost point of Europe, which is the Punta de Tarifa, at 25 km southwest of Gibraltar, as the crow flies.  Gibraltar is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and has no contact with the Atlantic Ocean.

The photographer

Francis Frith  was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom. After attending a Quaker school, he started in the cutlery business and suffered a nervous breakdown in 1843.  In 1850 he started a photographic studio in Liverpool, known as Frith & Hayward.  A successful grocer, and later, printer, Frith fostered an interest in photography, becoming a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society in 1853.  Frith sold his companies in 1855 in order to dedicate himself entirely to photography. He journeyed to the Middle East on three occasions, the first of which was a trip to Egypt in 1856 with very large cameras (16" x 20"). He used the collodion process, a major technical achievement in hot and dusty conditions.

During his travels he noted that tourists were the main consumers of the views of Italy, but armchair travellers bought scenes from other parts of the world in the hope of obtaining a true record, "far beyond anything that is in the power of the most accomplished artist to transfer to his canvas." These words express the ambitious goal that Frith set for himself when he departed on his first trip to the Nile Valley in 1856. He also made two other trips before 1860, extending his photo-taking to Palestine and Syria.  In addition to photography, he also kept a journal during his travels elaborating on the difficulties of the trip, commenting on the "smothering little tent" and the collodion fizzing - boiling up over the glass. Frith also noticed the compositional problems regarding the point of view from the camera. According to Frith, "the difficulty of getting a view satisfactorily in the camera: foregrounds are especially perverse; distance too near or too far; the falling away of the ground; the intervention of some brick wall or other common object... Oh what pictures we would make if we could command our point of views." An image he took known as the "Approach to Philae" is just one example which elaborates his ability to find refreshing photographic solutions to these problems. (cited from "A World History of Photography")

Reference: 

- Francis Frith official website