The Second Edition is now here.
Click on the cover photo on the left to learn more and order.
The Thorn photographers were featured on "Rick Stein's Cornwall", Series 2 Episode15 and following the program we received lot of orders for the book. The book sold out but a second edition has arrived which includes updates and corrections based upon new information which has come to light since the first print.
The Thorn family were pioneer photographers in Bude from the mid 1850's. We, and family relatives, have many of the old glass negatives which we use today to reproduce their amazing images. They are made using modern techniques digitally, using Museum Archive quality inks and photographic paper. They are copyright protected.
Photographers give us a glimpse into the past and bring to life parts of the area we know so
well, as they were when the photographs were taken.
Harry Thorn was Bude’s first photographer. At the young age of 17 or 18 in the 1850's he embarked upon a journey in to uncharted territory in Bude. He somehow managed to learn the art of photography which was in its infancy. It was only since 1851 that advances in photography made it possible for anyone to try the art.
Harry was a true pioneer in the art, in Bude, a small village of 600 inhabitants in the 1850's. He was later joined by his sister Sarah, his brother Samuel, Sarah's daughter Nellie and by Jake Harrison who was to marry Nellie. They recorded the coastal area from Clovelly to Tintagel, until 1932, documenting the various ship wrecks and events of the time.