Written by Sara Stevenson, chief curator of the Scottish National Photography Collection, this scholarly monograph provides a definitive analysis of David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) and his landmark partnership with Robert Adamson. Between 1843 and 1847, the duo pioneered the calotype process, producing approximately 3,000 images that transformed photography from a scientific curiosity into a legitimate art form. The book explores Hill’s transition from a Romantic landscape painter to a photographic visionary, placing their inventive portraits—ranging from Edinburgh’s high society to the working-class fisherfolk of Newhaven—within the religious, social, and nationalistic context of 19th-century Scotland. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, it serves as an essential resource for understanding the origins of artistic photography.