George Washington Wilson began his career as a portrait miniaturist, before switching to portrait photography in 1852. He shifted to landscape in the 1860s, pioneering a variety of techniques for outdoor photography. By 1864 he claimed to have sold over half a million prints.

Francis Frith opened a photographic studio in Liverpool, known as Frith & Hayward, and was a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society. He established a business publishing landscape views from around the world as prints, portfolios, and photographically-illustrated books. Many of his published works were made by his network of travelling photographers, including Frank Mason Good, Frederick William Sutton, and Hugo Lewis Pearson. Frith also bought the negative stocks of established photographers such as Roger Fenton and Francis Bedford. At its peak, the company published a 670-page catalogue of stock.

Francis Bedford was a British photographer, artist, lithographer, and publisher. He began making photographs around 1851. He founded a business selling photographic prints to the general public. At its height, Bedford stocked around 9,000 individual views. He was elected to the Council of the Photographic Society in 1858, and became Vice-President in 1861.