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Isabella Grace and Clementina Maude, 5 Princes Gardens
Clementina, Lady Hawarden, born 1822 - died 1865 - Enlarge image
Isabella Grace and Clementina Maude, 5 Princes Gardens; Photographic Study
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
South Kensington, England (photographed)
- Date:
ca. 1862-1863 (photographed)
- Artist/Maker:
Clementina, Lady Hawarden, born 1822 - died 1865 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative
- Credit Line:
Given by Lady Clementina Tottenham
- Museum number:
PH.457:555-1968
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H, case X, shelf 33H, box XV
Lady Hawarden often photographed her two eldest daughters posing together in an embrace. Another female photographer of the time, Julia Margaret Cameron, also explored the theme of affection between women. Behind the subject lie the traditions of Christian imagery, most notably the New Testament story of the Visitation. In this narrative Mary, the future mother of Jesus Christ, visits her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who has just become pregnant with John the Baptist.
Lesbian readings have also been attached to Hawarden’s photographs in such works as Lillian Faderman’s Surpassing the Love of Men (1981) and Carol Mavor’s Becoming: The Photographs of Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden (1999). Such readings are later interpretations, far from the original meaning of the photographs. Nevertheless, they have served to keep Hawarden’s photographs current and widely circulated and discussed.
