Mrs. Herbert Duckworth
Photograph
1867 (photographed), 1985 (printed and published)
1867 (photographed), 1985 (printed and published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Julia Margaret Cameron's career as a photographer began in 1863 when her daughter gave her a camera. Cameron began photographing everyone in sight. Because of the newness of photography as a practice, she was free to make her own rules and not be bound to convention. The kinds of images being made at the time did not interest Cameron. She was interested in capturing another kind of photographic truth. Not one dependent on accuracy of sharp detail, but one that depicted the emotional state of her sitter.
Cameron liked the soft focus portraits and the streak marks on her negatives, choosing to work with these irregularities, making them part of her pictures. Although at the time Cameron was seen as an unconventional and experimental photographer, her images have a solid place in the history of photography.
Most of Cameron's photographs are portraits. She used members of her family as sitters and made photographs than concentrated on their faces. She was interested in conveying their natural beauty, often asking female sitters to let down their hair so as to show them in a way that they were not accustomed to presenting themselves. In addition to making stunning and evocative portraits both of male and female subjects, Cameron also staged tableaux and posed her sitters in situations that simulated allegorical paintings.
Cameron liked the soft focus portraits and the streak marks on her negatives, choosing to work with these irregularities, making them part of her pictures. Although at the time Cameron was seen as an unconventional and experimental photographer, her images have a solid place in the history of photography.
Most of Cameron's photographs are portraits. She used members of her family as sitters and made photographs than concentrated on their faces. She was interested in conveying their natural beauty, often asking female sitters to let down their hair so as to show them in a way that they were not accustomed to presenting themselves. In addition to making stunning and evocative portraits both of male and female subjects, Cameron also staged tableaux and posed her sitters in situations that simulated allegorical paintings.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Hand-pulled dust-grain photogravure |
| Brief description | Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'Mrs. Herbert Duckworth' (Julia Jackson), from the portfolio 'The Golden Age of British Photography', photogravure, 1867, printed 1985 |
| Physical description | A photograph of a woman (Mrs. Herbert Duckworth) shown from the shoulders up with her hair tied back, looking over her left shoulder. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Limited edition |
| Copy number | 300 and 30 Artist's proofs |
| Credit line | Given by Mark Haworth-Booth, 1994 |
| Object history | Gift of Mark Haworth-Booth, 1994 The original albumen print is in the collection of Beaumont Newhall. |
| Historical context | This print is part of a portfolio containing sixteen hand-pulled dust-grain photogravures of rare masterpieces from Britain's greatest photographers, published in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It features important works by nineteenth-century masters of the medium |
| Production | This photogravure is part of a portfolio containing sixteen hand-pulled dust-grain photogravures of rare masterpieces from Britain's greatest photographers, published in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It features important works by nineteenth-century masters of the medium. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Julia Margaret Cameron's career as a photographer began in 1863 when her daughter gave her a camera. Cameron began photographing everyone in sight. Because of the newness of photography as a practice, she was free to make her own rules and not be bound to convention. The kinds of images being made at the time did not interest Cameron. She was interested in capturing another kind of photographic truth. Not one dependent on accuracy of sharp detail, but one that depicted the emotional state of her sitter. Cameron liked the soft focus portraits and the streak marks on her negatives, choosing to work with these irregularities, making them part of her pictures. Although at the time Cameron was seen as an unconventional and experimental photographer, her images have a solid place in the history of photography. Most of Cameron's photographs are portraits. She used members of her family as sitters and made photographs than concentrated on their faces. She was interested in conveying their natural beauty, often asking female sitters to let down their hair so as to show them in a way that they were not accustomed to presenting themselves. In addition to making stunning and evocative portraits both of male and female subjects, Cameron also staged tableaux and posed her sitters in situations that simulated allegorical paintings. |
| Associated object | 206-1969 (version) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | 12 - Plate number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.89-1994 |
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| Record created | April 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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