The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Work of magnificent man who diced with death goes on show
Pictures taken by 1920s aerial pioneer now available on gallery website
Alfred Buckham, born in 1879, was one of the 19th Century’s greatest aviators – taking to the sky against doctors’ order and surviving nine plane crashes.
Buckham was so passionate about his photography he risked his life to capture breathtaking images, including one of the first aerial images of Edinburgh in 1920.
Buckham’s extraordinary pictures can now be viewed online on the National Galleries for Scotland website.
They can also be viewed on request at the gallery.
The adventurer, who was born in London, originally wanted to be a painter.
But after visiting an exhibition at the National Gallery he threw his own work on a bonfire and reconsidered his choice of career.
Instead, he turned to photography and in 1917 was enlisted into the photographic division of the Royal Navy.
Buckham was stationed first at Turnhouse near Edinburgh and was later transferred to the Grand Fleet based at Rosyth.
On his missions, he took two cameras, one for his technical photography for the Navy and the other for personal use.
His aerial view of Edinburgh has become one of the most popular photographs in the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection.
Buckham survived his first eight wartime crashes relatively unscathed.
But after the ninth doctors removed his voicebox and he had to breathe for the rest of his life through a small tube in his neck.
In 1919 he was discharged out of the Royal Navy as 100% disabled.
The adventurer continued to practise aerial photography through the 1920s, and in 1931 he travelled to Central and South America to take photographs.
In an article dating from 1927 Buckham wrote: “I always stand up to make an exposure and, taking the precaution to tie my right leg to the seat, I am free to move about rapidly, and easily, in any desired direction; and loop the loop and indulge in other such delights, with perfect safety.”