Art I LOVE: Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, – A Bygone way of Life

a whitby street

I have always  loved these sepia photographs by Victorian Frank Meadow Sutcliffe (b. 1853 – 1941).  I have several  framed prints.  Although posed, there is a certain lack of self consciousness in a lot of these photographs.   It did help that Sutcliffe actually knew these villagers.  The fisher people are  my favorite portraits.  The character of these people shine  through their faces.  Theirs wasn’t an easy life, battling against the elements in order to live.  They were hardy people though with loads of grit, as evidenced in their portraits.

 

Henry Freeman Lifesboat man and hero

Although born in Leeds Yorkshire, Sutcliffe seems to have been fascinated by Whitby and it’s people, capturing  lots of its rural life  and some of the surrounding villages on his camera. Sutcliffe  had his studio in Whitby and lived just outside.

halcyon days

Sutcliffe chronicles a life that has all but disappeared.  From capturing  everyday working life to even the leisurely way people and animals moved down the lane.  At work and at play, you get the feeling that these people communicated  and cared for one another.  There is a sense of community which I find quite charming.

A reassuring sense of community

  Read all about this interesting photographer here

whitby harbour

The Sutcliffe Gallery UK  is a rich source of Sutcliffe’s photographs.  You can buy postcards and even framed prints here

The Sutcliffe Gallery Australia, lots of additional information on individual photos here