Behind the shop front

I photographed this empty shop today as a record of current events in Hexham.  I think it's important we record what is happening as well as what looks beautiful.

If Poundstretcher can't make a good living in the main shopping street, you wonder who can.

Then I noticed the sign above the door. It says
"J Philip Gibson
Freeman of the City of London
The Old Pharmacy" 

A little internet research reveals that JP Gibson was a keen photographer. He lived from 1838 to 1912. He was one of the first people to photograph Hadrian's Wall and was involved with excavations at Great Chesters and at Corstopitum

I quote from the Northumberland Collections Service newletter of 2008:
The style of photography adopted by Gibson resulted in his photographs having the appearance of paintings. This style was developed around 1889 as the result of the furore that arose when artists complained that photography could not be an art form. Gibson used different cloud formations and skies to alter his works, and these were taken from separate cloud negatives that still exist in the collection. This was done because the emulsions for the negatives were not able to capture the various extremes of light at the time.

We had a discussion in the Photo Club on Tuesday about what was "cheating" and what acceptable in modern images.  It seems that some things have been the source of heated debate for a long time!