Throughout September, I’ll be blogging about a series of stereocards that I recently purchased as part of my ongoing research into the influence of 3D on early press photography.
The significance of the cards I’ll be looking at is that they can be attributed to James Edward Ellam (1857-1920), an amateur stereographer from Yorkshire who enjoyed a successful career in London as a news agency photographer servicing Fleet Street.
He is best-known for his stereos for the Underwood & Underwood company of King Edward VII & Queen Alexandra in their Coronation robes, King Edward with his grandchildren at Balmoral (both in the National Portrait Gallery, London) and a set featuring Pope Pius X at the Vatican in Rome.
As there are 30 of his amateur stereos, I thought I would write a blogpost-a-day this month about each of the cards.
In the process, I hope to shed further light on a period of James’s career when he was making the transition, like other aspiring press photographers, from amateur to freelance/professional status.
The earliest cards date from the first half of the 1890s, a period when he was living in the Yorkshire town of Yarm and working as a chemist’s assistant for Strickland & Holt on the High Street.
Principally a wine merchants, the business (established in 1854) also offered photographic services including developing negatives and the use of an outdoor studio.
By this point, James was Secretary of the Stockton Photographic Society. It had around 60 members and its speciality was stereoscopic photography, so these stereos can be seen within the context of an amateur practising his craft.
The first stereo boasts a stamp on its verso – “J.E. Ellam, Yarm” – and a handwritten title and location – “On the look out. Runswick Bay. ”
The handwriting with its extravagant flourishes was familiar to me from examining various copyright forms he completed and which are now part of the National Archives in Kew.
Also familiar was the printed stamp in blue ink, which I had seen on other examples of his work in museum and private collections. This appears to be the earliest method of accreditation he used in the years prior to 1893.
As for the stereo itself, it’s a study featuring three children in a Pictorialist style that was popular during the late-Victorian period among both amateurs and professionals.
Two of the children are more prominent. Both stand on a large rock, whilst the third, seated in the background to their immediate left, seems a more reluctant participant.
As to whether the children were known to the stereographer, the image offers few clues, but the two on the rock appear to have responded to direction to help achieve the theme of “On the look out.”
The location of Runswick Bay (pronounced Run-zick) on the North Yorkshire coast meant James had journeyed about 30 miles from his home in Yarm.
As it does today, the location offered a spectacular spot for photographers with both its sandy beach and rocky headland.
As we will see in coming posts, “J.E. Ellam, Yarm” used different cameras during this period. In this example, each stereo photo measures 3″ x 2.75.” He also used a variety of coloured cards, in this case a lighter cream.
Despite being around a hundred and twenty years old, the prints are remarkably clear and there is only minimal foxing to the card.
Tomorrow: “The Surprise View. Fountains Abbey.”
If you’re new to stereoscopy, I’d recommend investing a few pounds in a Lite OWL, invented by Sir Brian May of Queen-fame, so you can view each post in all its dimensions.
https://shop.londonstereo.com/LITE.html
Pressphotoman 
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