THE PAST IN PICTURES
Whipper snappers
Billed as the world’s first wildlife photographers, brothers Richard and Cherry Kearton risked their lives to shoot astounding images
The first cameras were clunky contraptions ill-suited to wildlife photography, until two determined Yorkshire photographers, former farmer Richard Kearton (1862–1928) and his brother Cherry (1871–1940) came along. The Keartons used all their impressive ingenuity to take a series of pioneering images in the wild, including the first photograph of a bird’s nest with eggs, in April 1892. The image above, ‘Peewit, or lapwing’, was taken 10 years later. Their improvised methods included naturalistic hides (even a hollow model cow), camouflage and quiet camera shutters. In the image below, taken in 1900, they have extended their tripod with poles lashed on with twine to shoot a bird. We still feel the brothers’ influence today – their photography is said to have enthused the young David Attenborough.
