Vintage: Victorian Era Portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron (1860s-1870s)

Vintage: Victorian Era Portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron (1860s-1870s)

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In 1863, when Cameron was 48 years old, her daughter gave her a camera as a present, thereby starting her career as a photographer. Within a year, Cameron became a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland. She remained a member of the Photographic Society, London, until her death. In her photography, Cameron strove to capture beauty. She wrote, “I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied.”

The basic techniques of soft-focus “fancy portraits”, which she later developed, were taught to her by David Wilkie Wynfield. She later wrote that “to my feeling about his beautiful photography I owed all my attempts and indeed consequently all my success”.

Paul and Virginia, 1864

Paul and Virginia, 1864

Mrs. Herbert Duckworth, 1872

Mrs. Herbert Duckworth, 1872

Annie; ‘My first success,’ 1864

Annie; ‘My first success,’ 1864

May Day, 1866

May Day, 1866

Lady Adelaide Talbot, May 1865

Lady Adelaide Talbot, May 1865

Lady Adelaide Talbot, May 1865

Lady Adelaide Talbot, May 1865

Christabel, 1866

Christabel, 1866

Beatrice 1866

Beatrice 1866

Circe, 1865

Circe, 1865

Hosanna 1865

Hosanna 1865

Vivien and Merlin from Illustrations to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, 1874

Vivien and Merlin from Illustrations to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, 1874

Lady Elcho / A Dantesque Vision, 1865

Lady Elcho / A Dantesque Vision, 1865

Resting in Hope; La Madonna Riposata, 1864

Resting in Hope; La Madonna Riposata, 1864

St. Agnes, 1864

St. Agnes, 1864

The Dream, 1869

The Dream, 1869

Henry Taylor, October 10, 1867

Henry Taylor, October 10, 1867

Charles Darwin, 1868

Charles Darwin, 1868

Portrait of Herschel, April 1867

Portrait of Herschel, April 1867

The Five Foolish Virgins, 1864

The Five Foolish Virgins, 1864

Henry Cole, 1868

Henry Cole, 1868

Il Penseroso, 1864–1865

Il Penseroso, 1864–1865

Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness

Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness

Summer Days, 1866

Summer Days, 1866

Sappho, 1865

Sappho, 1865

The Passing Of Arthur, 1875. From Illustrations to Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and Other Poems, Volume II.

The Passing Of Arthur, 1875. From Illustrations to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, and Other Poems, Volume II.

Kate Dore, C. 1862

Kate Dore, C. 1863


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