100 years ago this month, the Isle of Wight lost one of its most prolific photographers of the Victorian and Edwardian era.
James Dore, who died on 25th November 1925, wasn’t only adept with a camera. He was also Sandown’s pioneering fire chief as well as a councillor, magistrate and owner of a High Street jewellery business.
Building the Bay is celebrating Dore’s centenary with an online exhibition of more than 50 of his historic images capturing daily life and landscapes of the Bay area in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In partnership with the Isle of Wight Heritage Service, the images will be posted over the coming weeks on the Bay Heritage Facebook page and the Building the Bay website, starting today with a selection of Dore’s scenes along the shores of the Bay itself.
James Dore is the first of a series of Heritage Heroes who’ll be featured by Building the Bay. The group’s heritage representative, Paul Coueslant, welcomes the chance to showcase the photographer’s work in the 21st century.
“Dore’s legacy is a precious record of Island life in the decades before the First World War. Because of him, we’re able to see how the Bay area looked in Victorian times and the changes that have taken place since.
We’re fortunate that so many of his original negatives survive thanks to the Isle of Wight Heritage Service, and we’ve included examples where the negatives aren’t in the best condition but still show Dore’s eye for capturing a memorable scene or what’s now a long forgotten view.”
