Oscar’s work will never be forgotten
A retired photographer and former teacher from Wolverhampton have suceeded in bringing the long-lost memory of a famous artist to life.
Roy Hawthorn, from Castlecroft, and David Kingston, of Wombourne, carried out a research project that lasted 10 years - in order to tell locals all about the former city photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander.
They made sure he was given a blue plaque where he used to live in Darlington Street in 2016, and helped conduct a wealth of online research to make sure his name would not be forgotten.
The duo, both long-standing members of Wolverhampton Photographic Society, even ended up recently meeting with a researcher from the National Museum of Photography in Canada, to help her with a book on the photographer.
Mr Hawthorn said: "The unfortunate truth is that people of Wolverhampton have never heard of Rejlander. We've spent 10 years on this research and thought it would be nice for people to know who he is.
"The Canadian researcher, Lori Pauli, didn't know much about his Wolverhampton period so she contacted us for help."
Oscar Gustav Rejlander was one of the country’s leading figure photographers from the late 1850s to his death in 1875.
He produced portraits and posed genre scenes often dealing with the subject of poverty, often using himself, his wife and his children as models.
His first famous work was called ‘The Two Ways of Life’, that was produced in 1857.
He spent about 15 years in Wolverhampton at his house in Darlington Street and in 1862 moved to London where he opened a studio.
Mr Hawthorn added: "I think it's amazing no-one knows about him. He used to know Prince Albert - on the horse. And used to visit him at Buckingham Palace."
David Kingston, who used to work as a science teacher, said: "I didn't know about him first off, but he's becoming more famous."
