19thC, stereoscopic; Hawarden C, D 333, 5 Princes Gardens, Clementina and Isabella Grace, c. 1861

5 Princes Gardens, interior: first floor, rear: French windows: carpet: Isabella Grace (back to camera), right arm around waist of Clementina (left profile); both seated on draped box. Head-brace in foreground. Their reflections in windows. Visible through French windows: terrace; balustrade; backs of houses in Princes Gate.

From departmental notes

'Clementina, Lady Hawarden (Untitled) Photographic Study (or) Study from Life (D.333) c.1861 5 Princes Gardens, interior: first floor, rear: French windows: carpet: Isabella Grace (back to camera), right arm around waist of Clementina (left profile); both seated on draped box. Head-brace in foreground. Their reflections in windows. Visible through French windows: terrace; balustrade; backs of houses in Princes Gate. 95 x 160 mm (stereoscopic) PH 457-1968:248 Series 60 Microfilm: 3.19.86; V&A Picture Library negative no. GG 4960. Lady Hawarden again presents her daughters as seemingly caught between two worlds. The sisters are nearly anonymous, though recognizable. Lady Hawarden has put them in the picture while perhaps deliberately removing her own presence. Though she worked continually with mirrors and windows, she never appears in a reflection. On either side of the girls are their images in the window glass, like ghostly companions. Where Lady Hawarden, behind the camera, would have been reflected in the centre door of the French window, if it were closed there is air. In the centre is a headrest, a photographer's studio prop not seen in any other photograph by Lady Hawarden. Headrests were used to hold sitters' heads steady for long exposures. However, Lady Hawarden probably did not usually employ such devices, as she worked either outdoors or in a light-filled room, with materials which were sufficiently sensitive to ensure relatively brief exposure times. Also, her daughters were talented models capable of bracing themselves in naturalistic attitudes. Because Lady Hawarden left no records of her technique, it is not known precisely how long her exposures were, but times ranging from a few seconds to half a minute were possible in the 1850s and 1860s. In the centre is a headrest, a photographer's studio prop not seen in any other photograph by Lady Hawarden. Headrests were used to hold sitters' heads steady for long exposures. However, Lady Hawarden probably did not usually employ such devices, as she worked either outdoors or in a light-filled room, with materials which were sufficiently sensitive to ensure relatively brief exposure times. Also, her daughters were talented models capable of bracing themselves in naturalistic attitudes. Because Lady Hawarden left no records of her technique, it is not known precisely how long her exposures were, but times ranging from a few seconds to half a minute were possible in the 1850s and 1860s.'

457:248-1968