British Pathe

Wargrave-on-Thames

M/S of an elderly Marcus Adams dressed in a doctor's white coat. Adams, "the most famous child photographer of the century", sits at his desk in his light, airy studio. Behind him is a large window through which a garden is visible. He is surrounded by collages made from...

Wargrave-on-Thames

M/S of an elderly Marcus Adams dressed in a doctor's white coat. Adams, "the most famous child photographer of the century", sits at his desk in his light, airy studio. Behind him is a large window through which a garden is visible. He is surrounded by collages made from dried plants. His desk is piled high with various pieces of paper, fern leaves and other dried plants and flowers. Panning C/U shot going from Adams' hands to the materials on the desk. Adams is using the fern leaves to create a new collage. C/U of Adams as he works. Top shot of the work in progress. Various shots of Adams and his collage as it begins to take the form of a landscape. The narrator explains that flower pressing is not a new form of art and was a particularly "popular pastime" in the Victorian era. Adams picks up a small tube of glue. C/U of Adams using a knife to shape a piece of dried plant. C/U of Adams using the knife and a small pick to place a fern leaf onto the collage.

M/S of Adams admiring the completed collage before placing it with the others beside his desk and moving on to the next piece of work. The narrator explains that Adams has always been interested in wildlife and has built up a substantial collection over many years of "millions of delicate fragments of flowers,plants leaves and even roots" which he keeps neatly filed away. Adams, aged eighty two, has more time now to indulge his interest in nature. M/S of Adams looking at one of his "files" - a card folder filed with dried plants carefully pressed between pieces of tracing paper. Various shots of Adams and the file as he searches for an addition to his new piece of work. In the end he selects a yellow flower and begins to paste it into position.

The narrator points out that there is no artificial colouring in these pictures. M/S of Adams looking through a pile of pictures. C/U from Adams' point of view of the pictures - all of bunches of flowers. The narrator explains that before Adams was a child photographer, he was trained as an artist. C/Us of collages of desert landscapes. C/U of a thistle mounted on blue paper. According to the narrator for the best results the flowers should be pressed between blotting paper which has been soaked in weak oxalic acid to preserve the natural colour. C/Us of a collage made from daisy petals.