...the two old established periodicals, the British Journal of Photography {established 1854} and the Photographic News {established 1856; combined with AP in May 1908}, were for the more or less expert {photographers}, either professional portraitist or amateur experimenter.

The coming of the amateur was foreshadowed by the establishment in 1884 of the Amateur Photographer, the first ten years of which, however, marked a rather barren existence. Its first editor, Charles W. Hastings, one of the most genial of men, was in fact more at home in the technicalities of the gas industry and after a year or two at "The A.P." took over the conduct of a gas journal which he retained until his death only a few years ago {perhaps mid-1921}. His successor, E. J. Wall, though young in years, belonged to the technical brigade. While he did what he could for the tyros, the times were not propitious. Nothing turned up within the succeeding few years which rendered amateur photography easier or more attractive to any especial degree. But one thing Wall did, and a thing which in its sequel, gave the considerable impetus to amateur work, was to encourage his largest contributor, a young assistant in a London dealing firm who, under the pseudonym of "Quill", had made his writings a feature of the paper and who, in his subsequent career had an asset in his name of A. Horsley Hinton.

By the time that Hinton had become editor of the Amateur Photographer (at the end of 1894), several inventions had put an altogether different complexion on amateur photography. Daylight-loading roll-film had been brought out by the Eastman Co; the old albumenised paper had been swept away in a flash through the introduction of P.O.P. by the Ilford Co., and Velox, the first gaslight paper, had come as a boon to the amateur. The hand-camera had become emancipated from the idea that it was something to be concealed. The stage was set for an immense extension of amateur photography of the kind existing previously but greatly simplified and facilitated. It is to the credit of Hinton that he did very much more than promote photography along these lines. He had the adroitness to tack what we call "pictorial photography" on to it. I think we may say that for practical purposes he "invented" pictorial photography, which hitherto, in its various forms, had flowered once a year at the exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society, and had then sunk out of sight until the next year's show opened. It was Hinton who took hold of it, pushed it along and, so to speak, kept it in the shop window every week of the year. I don't think he had any sense or deep appreciation of fine art. Probably if he had, he would never have taken up his role of propagandist. He certainly would not have made the examples of pictorial pholography which he showed year by year at the exhibitions and which, with scarcely an exception, proclaim the falsity which results from the attempt to combine several negatives into one landscape. But it is perhaps not generally known how Hinton laboured literally with his two hands, getting together collections of pictorial work and arranging for their exhibition, judging for innumerable society shows and competitions and seeking out whatever contributed to the advancement of pictorial work with the camera.

To Horsley Hinton, more than to any one man, belongs the credit of having nourished the infant pictorialism and kept in existence the milieu in which it has progressed on the road to recognition as a fine art. There can be no doubt that he enjoyed his short span of journalistic years immensely. His success was immediate and great and, lacking a sense of humour, he was dazzled by it more than anyone was. But he worked prodigiously in amateur photography, spent as freely as he earned, and died at 45 without leaving a penny. In what may be termed the Hinton epoch (it was only 14 years) amateur photography emerged on the grand scale. From a scientific hobby it developed into a universal pastime, an expansion which was brought about as much by the idea in the brain of one man as by particular mechanical or chemical inventions.