Over the course of digitising the Roslin Slide Collection, amongst all the slides of tables, charts and the like, it has been the images of people, and their animals, that have grabbed my attention most of all. I have noticed two particular styles of photographic composition that are common throughout; the group shot (still popular today of course!) and the ‘one man and his animal’ shot. These images provide a sort of typology where the composition often remains the same with the people and environment changing.
The small sample of images below gives an idea of the cross-continental range of the collection, although viewing the collection as a whole may be more informative due to the sheer volume of images offering a more solid grounding. As the slides move from place to place, from country to country, we can see how the details change, whether it be the breed of cow, colour of skin or clothing worn.
The extent of Roslin Slide Collection can be viewed here.

‘Group of Thugs’. Photograph of a group of thugs sitting on an Oriental carpet in the early 20th century.
!['Champion Lincoln in 2nd Prize Group, Palermo Show, [Buenos Aires, Argentina]'. Photograph of a champion Lincoln sheep in the 2nd prize group with three other sheep standing with four men in front of a building at the Palermo Show in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1903.](http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/diu/files/2015/04/0065727d.jpg)
Photograph of a champion Lincoln sheep in the 2nd prize group with three other sheep at the Palermo Show in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1903.

A group of Egyptian men on the porch of a country house in Egypt in the late 19th or early 20th century.
John
Project Photographer – ‘Science on a Plate’