professional photographer, worked at Melbourne in partnership with his brother Archibald from 1858. In that year the Age reported that a new form of the photographic art had recently been introduced at the 141 Bourke Street East rooms of Messrs A. & W. Paterson – 'the relievo-calotype … [which] equals, if not surpasses, any previous attempt to represent the contour of the face and figure with the distinctness of perspective, which is the chief feature of stereoscopic views. The portraits are taken on glass, and even at first glance appear to stand out in bold relief from the background. Messrs Paterson, we also observed, take likenesses on paper for the convenience of parties who wish to send such tokens of remembrance to their friends in other countries.’
The Paterson brothers moved to 78 Swanston Street East in 1860, but the following year returned to their former Bourke Street studio. They continued to be listed in Bourke Street East (at various numbers) until 1876 and were also listed at 68 Stanley Street, North Melbourne (1863), 90 George Street, Fitzroy (1865), Neild Street, Carlton (1866) and 7 Collins Street (1867). Neild Street was Archibald Paterson’s private residence and the other addresses may also have been domestic; 8 Bourke Street East was the only address given when Archibald and William Paterson were awarded an honourable mention for their 'Untouched and Coloured Portraits and Photographic Views’ at the 1866 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition.
William 'Patterson’ was listed independently as a photographer at 86 Latrobe Street East in 1866 and in 1868-69 Archibald Paterson alone was proprietor of the 8 Bourke Street studio. Then, according to Davies and Stanbury, they reverted to being Paterson Brothers and the firm continued until 1893. Examples of their (albumen print) portrait and exhibition photographs are held in the La Trobe Library. They took a photograph of the Aboriginal cricket team which was to tour England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1867 (private collection, NSW), and their original portrait photograph of Rev. W. Kennedy Muir was used as the frontispiece to Muir’s posthumous collection of sermons (Melbourne 1870).
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
