John Benjamin Stone
Sir (John) Benjamin Stone ( born February 9, 1838 in Aston Birmingham, † July 2, 1914 in Erdington ) was a British industrialist, politician and photographer.
Life
He was born the son of Benjamin Stone, the owner of a glass factory in Aston Manor and went to King Edward 's School, Birmingham.
After the factory in the possession of Sir (John) Benjamin Stone junior had passed, she became known under the name of Stone, Fawdry, and Stone. He was also a partner of the firm Smith, Stone and Knight, ran the large paper mills in Birmingham and the surrounding area.
In 1867 he married Jane Parker, daughter of Peter Parker from Lethersdale in Yorkshire. They had four sons and two daughters together. Just days after his wife died Jane on July 6, 1914.
Stone was a businessman, philanthropist, judge, politician, collector and photographer.
Offices and Memberships
- CEO of Glass Sellers' Company
- One of two councilors in Birmingham
- Member of the board of guardians of Aston
- Since 1902, High Steward of Sutton Coldfield
- 1895 to 1910 he was a member of the House of Commons as a representative of East Birmingham
- From 1874 to 1884 he was president of the Birmingham Conservative Association
- With Randolph Churchill, Sir Drummond Wolff, and Colonel Burnaby, Stone founded the Primrose League.
- Member of Birmingham Bean Club
- Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- Member of the Geological Society of London
- Member of the Linnean Society of London
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
- Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
- President of the Birmingham Photographic Society
- Founder of the National Photographic Record Association
1892 Stone was elevated to the gentry on the recommendation of the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury as a Knight / Knight and was allowed to carry the title of nobility Sir as a prefix to the name.
Collection
His interest was, moreover, the history, literature and photography. Even as a young man, he began to collect. His interest in antiques, the natural and social sciences led him to acquire photographs and portraits Business, Cabinet cards and stereoscopes.
Stone's substantial income earned him the privilege of being able to travel extensively. His travel notes he published as a book with the title A Summer Holiday in Spain, 1873 and Children in Norway, 1882. He described his tour of Japan, wrote a fairy tale for children and a historical treatise on the Lichfield Cathedral in Canterbury. On the one hand, he focused on the collection of photographs to illustrate his own textbooks and travel reports, on the other hand, he made it his mission that caused historic interest due to industrialization, to document radical changes. He wanted to create an extensive photographic archive. That's why he founded in 1895 the National Photographic Record Association. His way of systematically documented photographically, was new and a pioneer of documentary photography.
Photographic technique and themes
To 1888, Stone began to photograph itself, since it was no longer sufficient, the quality of purchasable photographs for his own purposes.
Since he had moved early from the usual wet -collodion to dry gelatin process, he could take advantage of the new method, which consisted in the bearing capacity of the photographic plates prior to exposure and development. In his house in Erdington called The Grange Stone employed two full-time photo lab technicians, who had the task to develop and reprint the photo plates.
His 22,000 photos and 50 volumes of collected images are now preserved in the Birmingham Central Library and are in possession of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In 1891, Sir Benjamin went with a Kodak No. 2 ( the successor to the legendary Kodak No. 1), a handheld camera, which was equipped with a ( dry roll film with 8.89 cm diagonal), traveling around the world. As the same time as George Eastman, the so-called snapshot photography with the slogan you press the button and we do the rest of sales, it was not long until Stone had nicknamed Sir snapshot. In 1890 he undertook with the Royal Astronomical Society a trip to Brazil, where he made remarkable photographs of a solar eclipse. There he is said to have several rebels who were about to take a post hotel under attack persuaded, with their weapons to pose for a picture. Sir Benjamin was also in the British West Indies, South Africa, Syria, Egypt and Palestine, and in Japan.
Portraits and group portraits, street scenes, places in and around Westminster around he chose as a theme. Historic buildings, especially churches, mansions and parliamentary or royal festivities return to his work again and again. As a member of the House of Commons he had access to places and celebrations, which were not normally accessible to photographers. He took Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey on. In the Houses of Parliament he not only photos of the building, but also of the staff, the members and important visitors. As the official photographer for the coronation of Edward VII in 1901 and George V. In 1910 he was appointed. This quickly made him known as a royal photographer.
Exhibitions
- 2007 Sir Benjamin Stone's Parliamentary Pictures National Portrait Gallery, London
- 2007 Festivals, Ceremonies and Customs: Sir Benjamin Stone and the National Photographic Record, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- 1977 150 Years of Photography documenta 6, Kassel