Sept 5th, 2018: shipwrecks

[xoxoxoBruce]

Papa John Gibson, a local seaman from Penzance, took his first photograph of a shipwreck in 1869 and from then on, he and his family were determined to be first on the scene. His two sons, Alexander and Herbert perfected the art of photographing the dramatic wrecks. Each glass plate tells its own story of tragedy, courage and survival. Their family archive, assembled over 125 years and four generations, is the largest and most exceptional collection of its kind…

They scrambled over jagged rocks and sand dunes in treacherous weather carrying a portable dark room, fragile glass plates and heavy equipment. Shipwrecks at the time were often major news, and the Gibson family would work quickly to prepare newspaper reports, and transmit them across the world.

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