James Robertson

James Robertson – Tourism advanced photography

James Robertson, born in Middlesex, England, in 1813, was intended for a career as an engraver; probably even having learnt this profession from William Wyon, the chief engraver of the Royal Mint, from 1858 he worked for the Ottoman Mint in Constantinople. It is not possible to say with certainty when James Robertson began to take an interest in photography, but his photographic beginnings probably stem from the 1840s, perhaps inspired by the many exciting and exotic impressions he was presented with in his adopted home of Constantinople, which he wished to capture in pictures. In the 1850s, photography experienced a boom as more and more tourists travelled to the Middle East and showed an interest in souvenirs. This attracted the early pioneers of the young medium of photography to Egypt and Constantinople, with the photographers, mainly from France, wishing to profit from the favourable location. 

Successful partnership with Felice Beato

James Robertson became acquainted with some of the young photographers, including the French Gustave Le Grey (1820-1884), Félix Bonfils (1831-1885), the Italians Antonio Beato (1832-1906) and Felice Beato (1832-1909) and the Zangaki brothers from Greece. Some of the photographers formed partnerships in order to better assert themselves - James Robertson founded the firm Robertson & Beato with Felice Beato, which undertook several photographic expeditions to Malta, Greece and Jerusalem. Felice's brother Antonio also joined the company for a time, and it is assumed that the pictures signed Robertson, Beato and Co. refer to Antonio as the third man. At the end of 1855, James Robertson married the Beato brothers' sister, Leonilda Maria Matilde Beato, with whom he had three daughters. In the 1850s, James Robertson's studio produced a series of watercolours with touristy themes such as snake charmers and carpet sellers, although it is unclear whether the artist painted the pictures from scratch or merely reworked existing photographs.

The world’s first war photographer

In 1858, James Robertson travelled to the Crimea with his partner and brother-in-law Felice Beato, and also Charles Langlois and Karl Baptiste van Szatmari, where they continued the work of the British photographer Roger Fenton and documented the final phase of the Crimean War. With his groundbreaking images of the fall of Sevastopol, Robertson earned himself the reputation of the "world's first war photographer"; at least 60 of his photographs of the Crimean War are among the most important and most famous photographic documents of that time. However, whether Robertson and Beato documented the consequences of the Sepoy Uprising in India in 1857, as some sources suggest, is disputed by researchers. In 1860, Robertson and Beato parted ways in business; while the latter travelled to China to photograph the Second Opium War, James Robertson remained in Constantinople, eventually giving up photography and continuing to work as an engraver at the Ottoman mint until his retirement.

James Robertson died in Yokohama in Japan on 18 April 1888.