An English Student’s Street Photographs of Edinburgh In the 1950s and 1960s

Robert Blomfield’s photographs were unseen for decades. Until now...

“I love the people”
– Robert Blomfield on Edinburgh, March 1966

 

Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, 1965

Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, 1965

Robert Blomfield’s photographs take us to Edinburgh between 1957 and 1966. Born in Leeds in 1938, Bloomfield studied medicine in Scotland’s capital. He took pictures for pleasure, recording things that caught his eye. Never exhibited during his lifetime, once his prints were dry, Robert would be put them into their yellow Kodak boxes.

 

March 1966 Edinburgh

March 1966

Forth Road Bridge under construction, 1962

Forth Road Bridge under construction, 1962

“I didn’t need to set the stage, the stage set itself. All I had to do was take the photo”

 

Student Union, Teviot Row House, 1961

Student Union, Teviot Row House, 1961

Stockbridge, 1966

Stockbridge, 1966

Salisbury Street, 1960

Salisbury Street, 1960

Robert Blomfield

Riego Street, Tollcross, 1965

Littlewoods, Princes Street, 1965

June 1965 Edinburgh

June 1965

India Place, Stockbridge, 1965

India Place, Stockbridge, 1965

Harrison Park, 1960

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street, 1960

Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street, 1960

Edinburgh, 1966

Edinburgh, 1966

Calton Hill, 1964

Bookmaker outside Aird’s Bar, Arthur Street, 1960

Bookmaker outside Aird’s Bar, Arthur Street, 1960

April 1966 Edinburgh

April 1966, Edinburgh

April 1966 Edinburgh

April 1966, Edinburgh

 

In 1999, Blomfield gave up photography and his career as a doctor after a stroke left him paralysed. He retired to Yorkshire and died in December 2020

Buy: Robert Blomfield: Edinburgh 1957-1966. More at the website to his work: here.

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