In the early years of the 20th century, two talented photographers established studios in the seaside town of Whitley Bay along the coast from Newcastle upon Tyne.
One was Lawson Dunn Adamson (1874-1942), the subject of last week’s Pressphotoman blogpost.
Whitley Art Studio blogpost – 27th July 2026
A skilled portraitist, he ran Whitley Art Studio for nearly four decades and operated professionally as ‘John Lawson (Adamson).’
One explanation for this dual identity may have been to avoid any confusion with his main photographic competitor in the town, Gladstone Adams (1880-1966).
Adams learned his trade with the celebrated North East photography business of Auty Ltd in nearby Tynemouth.
Adams then established a studio at 18 Station Road, Whitley Bay, that like the Whitley Art Studio serviced customers in search of a high quality portrait.
Adams’s varied career took in chairing the Professional Photographers’ Association as well as being Newcastle United’s official photographer and (away from photography) as the inventor of the car windscreen wiper.
However, he is perhaps best-known for a series of photographs taken early in his career.
Built at Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd at Wallsend on the River Tyne, the Cunard liner RMS Mauretania underwent sea trials during September 1907.
As the ship sailed in and out of the Tyne, Adams was able to capture a number of arresting images including this one.
Copyrighted by him the following month (COPY 1/514/550), it was reproduced in magazines and journals and a series of his Mauretania images also appeared as self-published postcards.
Pressphotoman 
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