Marian Ethel Driffield: A Biography
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
8-3-2025 8:20 PM
Description
Dr. Ronald M. Callender, Fellow, Royal Photographic Society, Willaston, Neston, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Marian Ethel Driffield: A Biography
May Driffield (1878–1967) deserves her place in photographic history. The birth of Marian Ethel Driffield in October1878 contributed to her mother’s death, but her father vowed May would have a good upbringing. During his daughter’s lifetime, Vero Charles Driffield was investigating the sensitivity and speed of photographic plates and May often assisted in his experiments.
For May, photography began at the age of four when father incorporated her portrait in a Christmas card. Once May showed proficiency in posing, her father documented aspects of their domestic life. One attractive photograph includes May as the camera assistant while her father photographs a close cousin. May played a part in improvements to photography. On purchasing a “hand-camera” father coaxed her to jump over a barrel in her Sunday best. Time and again, in technical experiments, she provided “skin tone” for the camera and on other occasions she wrapped herself in black velvet and white satin so as to challenge the density range of a trial emulsion.
An unusual portrait employed two mirrors adjacent to May’s head and provided father’s camera with three views within one photograph. To compare slow and fast printing papers a negative of May was utilised to reveal the gradations. A notebook entry entitled “May by the cherry tree” reveals how Driffield determined correct exposures for his enlargements. The photograph itself is excellent, but the border carries a fulsome note of the print-exposure conditions. When the Lumière brothers’ Autochromes appeared in 1907, Driffield received twelve complimentary plates. Following tests in his studio, he had no difficulty in achieving attractive colour images of May outdoors.
May’s father retired in September 1915, and at get-togethers, she used her own camera for snapshots of family and friends. Driffield died that same year and May realised his photographic equipment had value. She organised an auction at her home in February 1916, and meticulously entered the value of each sale in her catalogue. Her handwriting declares a total value of £112 (which converts to over £8000 in 2024.) As she aged, May maintained respect for her father; as guest of honour at Civic meetings, she continued to promote his achievements in photographic research.
Dr. Ronald M. Callender received his doctorate for a thesis on the lives and times of the 19th century photographic pioneers, Hurter & Driffield. As a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, Ron worked as a research scientist with responsibility for the development and application of photographic techniques, which were used to assess company products. He received the society’s Hood Award in 1976 and, on two occasions, obtained The Lancet trophy.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Callender, Ronald M., "Marian Ethel Driffield: A Biography" (2025). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day 2025. 58.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2025/schedule/58
Marian Ethel Driffield: A Biography
Dr. Ronald M. Callender, Fellow, Royal Photographic Society, Willaston, Neston, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Marian Ethel Driffield: A Biography
May Driffield (1878–1967) deserves her place in photographic history. The birth of Marian Ethel Driffield in October1878 contributed to her mother’s death, but her father vowed May would have a good upbringing. During his daughter’s lifetime, Vero Charles Driffield was investigating the sensitivity and speed of photographic plates and May often assisted in his experiments.
For May, photography began at the age of four when father incorporated her portrait in a Christmas card. Once May showed proficiency in posing, her father documented aspects of their domestic life. One attractive photograph includes May as the camera assistant while her father photographs a close cousin. May played a part in improvements to photography. On purchasing a “hand-camera” father coaxed her to jump over a barrel in her Sunday best. Time and again, in technical experiments, she provided “skin tone” for the camera and on other occasions she wrapped herself in black velvet and white satin so as to challenge the density range of a trial emulsion.
An unusual portrait employed two mirrors adjacent to May’s head and provided father’s camera with three views within one photograph. To compare slow and fast printing papers a negative of May was utilised to reveal the gradations. A notebook entry entitled “May by the cherry tree” reveals how Driffield determined correct exposures for his enlargements. The photograph itself is excellent, but the border carries a fulsome note of the print-exposure conditions. When the Lumière brothers’ Autochromes appeared in 1907, Driffield received twelve complimentary plates. Following tests in his studio, he had no difficulty in achieving attractive colour images of May outdoors.
May’s father retired in September 1915, and at get-togethers, she used her own camera for snapshots of family and friends. Driffield died that same year and May realised his photographic equipment had value. She organised an auction at her home in February 1916, and meticulously entered the value of each sale in her catalogue. Her handwriting declares a total value of £112 (which converts to over £8000 in 2024.) As she aged, May maintained respect for her father; as guest of honour at Civic meetings, she continued to promote his achievements in photographic research.
Dr. Ronald M. Callender received his doctorate for a thesis on the lives and times of the 19th century photographic pioneers, Hurter & Driffield. As a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, Ron worked as a research scientist with responsibility for the development and application of photographic techniques, which were used to assess company products. He received the society’s Hood Award in 1976 and, on two occasions, obtained The Lancet trophy.
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