The history of photography is closely bound up with the study of botany; many of the early pioneers of photography such as William Henry Fox Talbot and Anna Atkins used botanical subjects for their photographs and this continued throughout the Victorian period and into the early Twentieth century.

George Paxton was a brewer and amateur photographer with a strong interest in photographing trees and his collection of some 650 glass plate negatives was donated to the garden by his grandson Ian Marshall some years ago. Initial cataloguing and research during the lst year has revealed the need to know more about the little-known Scottish photographer and his collection.

Over sixty images (largely of trees) have been printed and twelve are exhibited here for the first time – in the hope that this exhibition may stimulate interest in Paxton’s work as a photographer and these images in particular, but also the ongoing conservation and research role of the Garden’s library archive and its contribution to public understanding and enjoyment.

The exhibit, open now, remains through March 30, 2014, in the Studio at Dawyck Botanic Garden, Stobo, Near Peebles, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

Part of the Royal Botanic Garden, Dawyck is 28 miles south of Edinburgh on the B712, around 8 miles southwest of Peebles in the Scottish Borders.

(Photo of Birch Bark by George Paxton, courtesy of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)