| Names: | Born: Julia Margaret Pattle
Other: Julia Margaret Pattle Cameron
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| | Dates: | 1815, 11 June - 1879, 26 January | | Born: | India, Calcutta | | Died: | Ceylon, Kalutara | | Active: | England | | Gender: | Female |
She was every bit the Victorian lady with a strong interest in the arts and literature. She was given a camera when she was 48 and experimented with photography for only about ten years but produced some of the most extraordinary portraits of Victorian England. Her photographs can be divided into two main types: those of famous Victorians (such as Herschel, Carlyle, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Darwin and the actress Ellen Terry) and her recreations of literary, biblical and historical events. Her portrait style, of large head close-ups, is instantly recognisable. During the relatively short period when she was active she produced over 3,000 large format wet collodion negatives. She moved back to India (Ceylon) in 1875 and thereafter produced very few photographs.
[With assistance from Pam Roberts]Preparing biographies | | |
The following books are useful starting points to obtain brief biographies but they are not substitutes for the monographs on individual photographers. |
• Auer, Michele & Michel 1985 Encyclopedie Internationale Des Photographes de 1839 a Nos Jours / Photographers Encylopaedia International 1839 to the present (Hermance, Editions Camera Obscura) 2 volumes [A classic reference work for biographical information on photographers.]
• Beaton, Cecil & Buckland, Gail 1975 The Magic Eye: The Genius of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown & Company) p.62 [Useful short biographies with personal asides and one or more example images.]
• Capa, Cornell (ed.) 1984 The International Center of Photography: Encyclopedia of Photography (New York, Crown Publishers, Inc. - A Pound Press Book) p.94-95
• International Center of Photography 1999 Reflections in a Glass Eye: Works from the International Center of Photography Collection (New York: A Bulfinch Press Book) p.210-211 [Includes a well written short biography on Julia Margaret Cameron with example plate(s) earlier in book.]
• Lenman, Robin (ed.) 2005 The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Oxford: Oxford University Press) [Includes a short biography on Julia Margaret Cameron.]
• Weaver, Mike (ed.) 1989 The Art of Photography 1839-1989 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press) p.453 [This exhibition catalogue is for the travelling exhibition that went to Houston, Canberra and London in 1989.]
• Witkin, Lee D. and Barbara London 1979 The Photograph Collector’s Guide (London: Secker and Warburg) p.106-107 [Long out of print but an essential reference work - the good news is that a new edition is in preparation.]
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If there is an analysis of a single photograph or a useful self portrait I will highlight it here. |
Photographic collections are a useful means of examining large numbers of photographs by a single photographer on-line.
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| "From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardor." | | "I longed to arrest all beauty that came before me, and at length the longing has been satisfied." | | "When I have had such men before my camera my whole soul has endeavored to do its duty towards them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of the outer man. The photograph thus taken has been almost the embodiment of a prayer." |
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