Throughout my research into the early press photographer James Edward Ellam (1857-1920), I have been on the look out for a photograph of him.
It was only when I obtained the 30 stereos attributable to him that have formed the subject of this month’s blogpost-a-day series that a contender emerged.
Captioned “His Majesty” in James’s hand, it features a man with a moustache in full Highland dress.
Though slightly faded due to age, the 3D effect is still intact.
Of all the stereocards that I have written about this month, it is the only one that uses an orange-coloured card, suggesting it was distinctive in some way.
The outfit which the man is wearing might also be significant when viewed in the context of one of James’s best-known stereos for the Underwood & Underwood company.
In September 1902, following the coronation of Edward VII, James and a court photographer from Russell & Sons were at Balmoral Castle in Scotland where members of the royal family were attending the annual Braemar Gathering.
With the castle walls as a backdrop, he took this 3D portrait of the King and his grandchildren including the future Edward VIII and George VI in their kilts and Glengarry bonnets.
In the “His Majesty” stereo, the use of that title perhaps suggests a keen sense of humour at play.
It is one that journalists and press photographers would certainly identify with.
For James, who only a few years earlier had been a keen amateur stereographer in Yorkshire, the mere idea of being in close proximity to the monarch on such an occasion must have seemed faintly ridiculous.
Tomorrow: “A 3D Self-Portrait?”
Pressphotoman 
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