Curatorial description (Accessed: 29 March 2016)
Lady Hawarden's work of 1859 to 1864 focuses on her family at her South Kensington home at 5 Princes Gardens. She became well-known for works from this period which were beautifully lit and composed. Working from home, Hawarden had to rely upon natural sources of light. Here Lord Hawarden and daughter Clementina are bathed in the sunlight flowing through the window. Hawarden's careful composition implies a relationship between the two figures that reinforces an awareness of stillness. The image has no clear subject, but marks a certain moment that is open to interpretation
Lady Hawarden exhibited her wok as 'Photographic Studies and 'Studies from Life', phrases which at the time denoted 'art photography' and its relation to painting.
