I was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland in 1948 and travelled to Australia in 1955 where I was educated in Canberra and at Haileybury College in Melbourne. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1966, I joined the Royal Air Force where I served five years as an aerial photograper, leaving in 1975. During this time I undertook my 'Grand Tour', travelling widely on the Continent and the Levant and I spent a month sailing in Scottish waters on the topgallant schooner 'Captain Scott'. Leaving the RAF in 1975 I spent a year working at the University of Cambridge before settling in Edinburgh.My career as a professional photographer began in 1979 when I was awarded the HND in Photography at Napier University, Edinburgh. I passed with distinction and was awarded the College Medal and the Kodak Prize. In September of that year I was appointed Senior Photographer in the University of Edinburgh, where I served a number of departments including Archaeology, Classics and Fine Art. I left in December 2001.
Since 1980 I have carried out research and published seminal articles on Scottish material culture. This led to the award of a Ph.D. in the University of Edinburgh in 1997, on the life and work of the watercolour painter Hugh 'Grecian' Williams [1773-1829]. I have held a Cotton Fellowship [1988] for research in Greece on Hugh Williams and a Mellon Visiting Fellowship [1992] at the Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, for work on the engraver, Richard Cooper senior [1696-1764].
I have given numerous invited lectures, most notably at the British School at Athens on Hugh Williams [1988] and at the Frick Museum, New York on Robert Adam [1998]. Between 1997 and 1999 I arranged three study-days entitled 'Newhailes-New Research' in the University of Edinburgh focussing on Newhailes House, at that time being conserved by the National Trust for Scotland. I have curated two exhibitions; ‘Thomas Hamilton Architect 1784-1858’ at the Talbot Rice Art Gallery, University of Edinburgh [1984] and in collaboration with David Paterson, ‘Thomas Begbie’s Edinburgh’, at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh [1990].
My publications are listed below and my main research interests will be explored on other pages here. I am currently writing a long article on Scottish book illustration for publication in 'The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, 1707-1800'.
I have made photographic contributions to a great number of publications and to this end I have carried out comprehensive photographic surveys at the Capella Palatina in Palermo, in Rome, Jerusalem, and Turkmenistan. My work can be seen in the National Photography Archive in the National Gallery of Scotland and I have an entry in 'A Companion Guide to the Photography in the National Galleries of Scotland', Edinburgh [2001].
My recent work includes photography in Jerusalem, particularly the Ayyubid architecture, for a forthcoming book to be published by The World of Islam Festival Trust. Just before Christmas I was part of a team led by Bentley Layton (Yale) and Michael Burgoyne (Historic Scotland) that undertook a photographic survey at the White Monastery of St. Shenouda, Sohag, Egypt. I am currently keeping warm in my darkroom, printing the results of that very successful expedition.
CONTACT ME IF YOU REQUIRE TRADITIONAL LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHY OR ARCHIVAL BLACK AND WHITE PRINTING
joe@tilton.freeserve.co.uk
As a consultant historian I have produced numerous unpublished reports:
► Historical Report on the Royal High School [Thomas Hamilton, 1823-29] for Law and Dunbar Nasmith, Architects. Client: Scottish National Photography Centre. October 2003.
See: www.snpc.org.uk/
► Historical Report on the Royal College of Surgeon's building in South Bridge [W. H. Playfair, 1828-29] for John Renshaw, Architect. Client: Royal College of Surgeons. November 2003.
See: www.rcsed.ac.uk/
► Report on the John Bannerman Collection of glass negatives. Client: Lyon & Turnbull, Auctioneers. November 2003.
See the archived catalogue for sale 125, 12 July 2005, Lot 506, at: www.lyonandturnbull.com/
► Historical Report on the Bonnington Pavilion, near Lanark [my attribution, Alexander Edward, 1708] as part of a conservation study of the Falls of the Clyde for Peter McGowan, architect. Client: Scottish Natural Heritage. January 2004.
See: www.rcahms.gov.uk/RCAHMS_listedbuildings.pdf+bonnington+pavilion&hl=en
► Historical Report and timeline on Dunvegan Castle, Skye [Robert Brown, 1840-50] for Simpson & Brown, Architects. Client: John MacLeod of MacLeod and Dunvegan Estates. March 2004.
See: www.simpsonandbrown.co.uk
► Historical Report and Timeline on Donaldson's Hospital [W. H. Playfair, 1843-1853] for Simpson & Brown, architects. Client: Cala Homes. July 2004.
► Historical Report on 125 George Street [Alexander Laing 1789] for Simpson & Brown, architects. Client: Montpelier Hotels. January 2005.
► Historical Report on the Scottish National Portrait Gallery building [Rowand Anderson, 1882-92] for Simpson & Brown, architects. Client: Scottish National Portrait Gallery for Lottery funding application.May 2005.
► Historical Report on the Burns Monument, Alloway [Thomas Hamilton, 1818-1824] for Simpson & Brown, architects. February 2006.
► Historical Timeline on The Vaults, Leith [Probably built as a tennis court for Bernard Lindsay, 1625] for Simpson & Brown, architects. Client: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. March 2006.
► Historical Timeline on Ardsheal House, Appin for Simpson & Brown, architects. July 2006.
CONTACT ME IF YOU REQUIRE HISTORICAL RESEARCH
joe@tilton.freeserve.co.uk
PUBLICATIONS:
Books or contributions to books:
► Thomas Begbie’s Edinburgh - A Mid-Victorian Portrait. Edinburgh, 1992.
► ‘Relugas and the Dick Lauder Family’, in Scottish Country Houses, 1600-1914, ed. by Ian Gow and Alistair Rowan. Edinburgh, 1994.
Exhibition Catalogues:
► Thomas Hamilton, Architect, [1784-1858]. Edinburgh, 1984.
Articles:
► ‘The Hopetoun Chest at Newhailes House’ in The Burlington Magazine, Vol. CXXIX, August 1987, pp. 516-518.
► ‘A Pair of Scottish Hall Chairs’ in Furniture History Vol. XXXI, London 1995, pp. 206-209.
► ‘The ‘A’ Marked Porcelain: Further Evidence for the Scottish Option’, in the Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle Vol. 17 Pt. 1, 1999, pp. 69-78.
► ‘An Important Scottish Anatomical Publication Rediscovered’, in The Book Collector Vol. 49, No. 1, 2000, pp. 27-60.
► 'Hugh William Williams (Grecian Williams) 1773-1829’ in The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, New Series, Vol. 5, 2002, pp. 83-91.
► 'Richard Cooper senior, and the beginnings of rococo taste in Scotland: documents from the Traquair archives' in Scottish Archives Vol. 8, 2002, pp. 71-81.
► ‘”An ingenious self-taught sculptor”, Robert Forrest [1789-1852]’ in the Sculpture Journal, Vol. IX, 2003, pp. 62-71.
► 'Keeping warm in the north: wallpaper in Scotland in the early eighteenth century' in The Wallpaper History Review, 2004/05, pp. 3-6.
► 'Richard Cooper senior [1696-1764] and his Properties in Edinburgh' in The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, New Series, Vol. 6, 2005, pp. 11-23.
► 'Robert Gordon, Goldsmith and Richard Cooper, Engraver: a glimpse into a Scottish atélier in the eighteenth century' in Silver Studies, 2005. pp. 49-63.
CONTACT ME IF YOU REQUIRE TOP QUALITY RESEARCH IN SCOTLAND: joe@tilton.freeserve.co.uk
