Over a period of almost forty years, the name James G. Tunny was synonymous in Edinburgh, if not the whole of Scotland, with professional photography in the latter half of the nineteenth century.Born in 1820, the son of a weaver, James Tunny’s teenage interest in art and chemistry happened to coincide with developments in the art of photography. Initially working in the calotype and daguerreotype processes, Tunny recognised the advantages of collodion in its earliest days, experimenting and adapting the technique in his studio. Tunny is credited with personally training a great number of Scotland’s professional photographers, some of whom went on to achieve international acclaim. Tunny further shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for photography through membership of organisations such as the Photographic Society of Scotland and the Edinburgh Photographic Society. By the time of his death in 1887, Tunny had established his principal studio on Maitland Street (now Shandwick Place), Edinburgh, which was described as being the grandest of its kind when it first opened in 1876. Tunny’s photographic business had come a long way from the little single-storey studio that he had initially established on South Clerk Street in 1851. Despite there being much documented evidence regarding Tunny’s life, what very little that has been gathered together relates only to his photographic career. However, beyond the realm of his photographic studio, Tunny’s domestic affairs and political life also make intriguing reading. Married, and tragically widowed three times, Tunny fathered eleven children. His choice of names for three of his offspring gives us a clear indication of his political inclination. Tunny had a reputation for being a staunch radical, aligning himself with Edinburgh’s Advanced Liberals, committed to bringing about social reforms for the working class. For almost twenty years prior to his death, newspaper articles frequently recorded Tunny’s name in relation to local political issues of the day. Until the research for this study was put together, little was ever mentioned or even known about Tunny’s life outside of photography.

Drawing on research sources such as national archives, contemporary newspaper reports, photographic journals and the Internet, I have pieced together the photographic career of James G. Tunny, setting it in the context of his domestic life, political interests, and the history of early photography. The more facts I uncovered about Tunny, the more intrigued I became about why such a prominent man would have been disregarded so quickly after his death.

A Study of James G. Tunny, 1820 - 1887 can be purchased through the self-publishing website Lulu