After his initial apprenticeship to a lithographer in Cupar he moved to Glasgow and, after gaining the patent rights to the photogravure process, established himself in a photographic studio in Sauchiehall Street during 1857.
After his initial apprenticeship to a lithographer in Cupar he moved to Glasgow in 1849 and worked as a lithographer and engraver for Joseph Swan until 1855. After gaining the patent rights to the photogravure process, he established himself in a photographic studio in Sauchiehall Street during 1857.