Julia Margaret Cameron, whose biography is described in this article, was a well-known nineteenth-century British photographer. Her work has inspired earlier and continues to excite people so far. Julia is considered the best portrait painter. Her work went down in the history of photography.
Childhood
Julia Margaret Cameron was born on the eleventh of June 1815 in India, in Calcutta. His mother, Adeline de L'Etan, was a French aristocrat, and her father, James Pattle, was an English official for an East Indian company. In Calcutta, Julia spent her entire childhood. Many called her the ugly duckling, although the sisters were considered beautiful. But no one denied that Julia has her own talents.
Perhaps this division of beauty subsequently played a big role in her life, when she, as an adult lady, took up photography. Julia received an excellent education in France. But after the death of her parents, she had to return to India.
Life-changing gift
Julia Cameron's life changed a lot after moving with her husband to the Isle of Wight. It was a real countryside. There were no balls or social entertainments that Julia was used to in London. The poet Lord Alfred Tennyson saved her from boredom. The children had already grown up, everyone had scattered, and Julia was overcome by depression. A daughter with her son-in-law, wanting to get her mother out of prostration, presented her with an expensive camera for her 48th birthday. And life for Julia acquired a new meaning and color.
The first photo works
Cameron had several teachers who later criticized her mercilessly for her style. One of the photographers who liked the pictures was David Wilkie Winfield. But Julia Margaret Cameron wanted to find her own special style. The first objects to be shot were domestic ones - family members, servants, and workers from her husband's plantations. Then Julia introduced to the work and the neighbors, making them models.
Many complained that it was difficult to withstand such a long shoot. At that time, photography was still developing, and shutter speeds were set to seven minutes or more. But then Julia developed her own special style. Her photographs were distinguished by thoughtful poses, gloomy shadows and a slight blur.
Julia Margaret Cameron did not create ordinary portraits, but illustrations for biblical and literary topics. For each posing, she tried to find special lighting. The maid of Julia, Maria Hiller, suffered most from such lengthy filming. She had to sit still for 8 minutes. But then the maid gained fame over time.
First photo studio
Julia equipped her first photo studio in a room where hens were previously kept. A coal shed was set aside for a laboratory for taking pictures. At first, the photos were very unsuccessful. In many pictures, spots and cracks were visible. Photos faded quickly. There was a lot of marriage. But Julia stubbornly continued to improve.
Her studio has become a "gallery of saints." She created not just good pictures, but practically icons. Julia took pictures not only of nobility, but also of ordinary people. But these pictures were uninteresting. It was immediately felt that Julia did not put a soul into them.
Perfection in photography
Some photographers mercilessly criticized Cameron's work. But most found the pictures great. Julia Margaret Cameron herself mastered the process of image capture using colloidal plates. Cameron has a distinctive feature - cropping photos around the figures and blurry images. She achieved this specifically with the help of soft focus.
As a result, Julia received plasticity, expression of feelings. She stylized her work as a painting. Removed small unnecessary visual details. As a result, her contemporaries turned out to be heroes of the prosaic world.
Exhibitions
After a while, among photographers, her name began to sound more often - Julia Margaret Cameron. Her works were exhibited in London, Dublin, Paris and Edinburgh. And in Berlin, Julia was awarded the gold medal of V. Vogel. It was a chemical photographer who perfected color photographs. In 1867, at the Paris World's Fair, Julia was awarded the highest recognition.
How are Julia's photographs preserved?
She was a member of the English Photo Club. As soon as the pictures became really good, Julia decided to sell her work to the director of the museum. At the same time, she carefully registered each photo and registered her copyright. And then she sold her work for a lot of money with the authorship of “Julia Margaret Cameron”. The exhibition, which was organized by the director of the museum, was constantly replenished with new photographs.
Julia's character
Contemporaries about Julia spoke of as an energetic, impulsive and assertive lady, able to persuade anyone to become a fashion model. She was even posed by respectable officials of the Ministry with a poker in her hands, which depicted a scepter. Julia was fond of theatrical performances. Therefore, relatives and friends were often forced to dress in costumes of different characters.
Personal life
Julia Margaret Cameron, whose photo is in this article, was married in 1838 with the legal adviser Charles Cameron. He was twenty years older than his wife. But, despite the big difference in age, this marriage was happy. Both spouses were very fond of art. Julia and Charles had six children.
Camerons were friends with many artists and writers. Julia even wrote short stories and made translations. After the wedding, the couple went to live in Ceylon. There they lived the first ten years of marriage. After Charles resigned, the family moved to England and settled in London.
End of career and life
Julia Margaret Cameron, whose work has survived to our times, over eleven years of photography has created over 900 works. Then he and Charles decided to leave for Ceylon. There, Julia's spouse had coffee plantations and their two sons lived. Cameron tried to do photography on the island. But it did not have the necessary components for working in the laboratory: pure water and reagents.
As a result, Julia stopped doing photography. She died on January 26, 1879, on the island of Ceylon. At that time she was only 59 years old. The cause of death turned out to be sadly banal - a common cold.
Julia’s pictures were valued not so much for quality as for “soul”. It was her who always wanted to see and convey in her works, Cameron. And the camera in her hands was like a brush of a talented artist. Julia sought to capture in photographs not just faces, but their expressions. Convey feelings. Julia's works are especially spiritual and romantic.