Julia Margaret Cameron: Dreamy Victorian era portraits

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815 -1879) is one of the most celebrated women in the history of photography. Cameron is known for her innovative work from the 19th century, when photography was still in its infancy.

In honor of the bicentenary of her birth, June 11, 2015, the Victoria & Albert Museum is showcasing more than 100 of her images from their collection later this fall as part of year-long celebrations in the U.K.

Photo: Circe, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, 1865 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

Cameron looked to painting and sculpture as inspiration for her allegorical and narrative subjects.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, 1868, printed 1875 - Carbon print from copy negative

Cameron was best known for her powerful portraits. The photo of Darwin, the naturalist and geologist best known for his theory of evolution, is one of many striking portraits of members of Cameron's intellectual and social circle. That circle included Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning and Julia Jackson, Cameron's niece and the mother of Virginia Woolf.

Paul and Virginia

Paul and Virginia, Julia Margaret Cameron, 1864 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

Cameron got her start in photography late in life, as a 48-year-old mother of six, when she was given a camera by her daughter for Christmas. Cameron's career lasted only 11 years.

"From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardor, and it has become to me as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigor." -- Julia Margaret Cameron

Sir Henry Cole

Portrait of Sir Henry Cole (1808 - 82), Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868

Cole, the founding director of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), presented Cameron's first museum exhibition. It was the only exhibition of her work in her lifetime.

The exhibition includes some letters between Cameron and Cole, in which he writes of going 'to Mrs Cameron's...to have my portrait photographed in her style.'

Julia Margaret Cameron

Annie, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, January 1864 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

Born in Calcutta, Cameron was the most flamboyant of seven sisters known for their socialness and artistic eccentricity. It wasn't until 1848 that she moved came to England when her husband, Charles Hay Cameron, retired.

Whisper of the Muse

Whisper of the Muse, Julia Margaret Cameron, 1865

In late 1865, Cameron began using a larger format camera, which held a 15x12-inch glass negative.

The portraits were a laborious effort for both the photographer and her subjects; her subjects had to sit very still because of the nature of the photographic wet-plate process she used.

Julia Jackson

Julia Jackson, Julia Margaret Cameron, England, 1867 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

Julia Jackson was Cameron's niece and the mother of Virginia Woolf. According to the Art Institute of Chicago, this portrait was taken in April 1867, one month before Julia Jackson married her first husband, Herbert Duckworth.

Cameron's large-format, dreamy compositions defied photographic conventions of the Victorian era.

May Day

May Day, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, 1866 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

May Day is an illustration of Tennyson's poem The May Queen (1832), showing the English tradition of crowning a young woman Queen of the May, on the first day of that month. The young woman in the center is Cameron's niece May Prinsep.

Cameron went on to produce two volumes of illustrations of Tennyson's poems in 1874-5.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York described Cameron as an artist who "blended an unorthodox techinique, a deeply spiritual sensibility, and a Pre-Raphaelite-inflected aesthetic to create... a mirror of the Victorian soul."

La Madonna della Ricordanza

La Madonna della Ricordanza, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, 1864 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative.

As a mother of six, the motif of the Madonna and child was particularly significant for Cameron. Cameron sought to create photos that 'were uplifting and morally instructive.' At the very beginning of her photographic career she ambitiously illustrated the nine Christian virtues.

William Michael Rossetti

William Michael Rossetti Cameron, Julia Margaret, London, 1865 - Albumen print from wet collodion negative

Cameron's photos "were rule-breaking: purposely out of focus, and often including scratches, smudges and other traces of the artist's process. Cameron was criticized for her unconventional techniques, but also celebrated for the beauty of her compositions and her conviction in photography as an art for," according to the V&A.

Sappho

Sappho, Julia Margaret Cameron, Isle of Wight, 1865 - Albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative

This photograph was one of two studies undertaken of Cameron's maid Mary Hillier as Sappho, the ancient Greek poet who wrote of passionate love between women.

The Passing of King Arthur

The Passing of King Arthur, Julia Margaret Cameron, 1874 - Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative

Cameron often posed her sitters -- friends, family and servants -- as characters from biblical, historical or allegorical stories.

In 1874, Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, invited Cameron to illustrate "Idylls of the King," a series of narrative poems based on the legends of King Arthur.

Julia Margaret Cameron

There are no known self-portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron. This portrait was taken by her son Henry Herschel Hay Cameron, 1870

The V&A exhibition is part of a nationwide celebration of Julia Margaret Cameron's work in the U.K.