Diamond, Hugh Welch

Hugh Welch Diamond (1808-1886) was a physician/photographer from Kent who decided to specialize in mental disorders after stints as house surgeon to West Kent Infirmary at Maidstone and private practice in Soho. He was appointed superintendent of the Women's Department of the Surrey County Asylum, where he practiced from 1848-1858. During this period he was actively engaged in photography and was editor of the Photographic Journal. He became a member of the Photographic Society in 1853 and served as its secretary for many years. Diamond produced mainly calotypes, concentrating his images on the patients he treated. While he also photographed topography of surrounding areas, he is noted for the several series of sympathetic portraits of the mentally ill he produced while at the Surrey County Asylum.

From the description of Portrait of a mentally disturbed woman. ca. 1848-1858. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 77719375

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