This is a new section replacing photo tips, it was inspired by listening to Garrison Keillor's
writer's almanac, in which he profiles a writer/poet who made a contribution to
the art of writing.
As the headline states this section will profile a
photographer who historically changed the way we look at photography.
I hope this section will enlighten and entertain those of
you continue to read this newsletter and are fascinated with the impact that
photography has in our society, culture and daily lives.
1839 was the introduction of photography to the world.
Introduced in France by Daguerre and in England by Fox Talbot. The 19th
Century was an age of wonder and reason (ability to mechanically record our world with the
snap of a button and a long exposure), experimentation (glass plates and tin
types) elitism (it was a rich persons hobby) and death, (some photographers
died experimenting with toxic chemicals such as mercury).
One photographer that stood out during that period was a woman
named Julia Margaret Cameron (b.1819-1879). She began her career in her late 40's
because she was bored. Her
husband, a wealthy businessman, spent a lot of time in India with his company.
Confined to stay in England her children suggest she take up photography as a
hobby to pass the time. and as they say " the rest is history". She went on to
photograph her friends, Lord Byron Tennyson, Charles Darwin, Robert Browning
and many other personalities in her signature, closely cropped style, and created
magical tableau of her family and friends.
She was pretty much discarded as an amateur by her peers and
those " in the know." Unlike her peers she was not interested in the technical
perfection of photography and as a result her 8" x 10 " negatives where
scratched, fogged and sometime not fully developed. The disregard for technical
perfection, access to the social elite, literary awareness and courage resulted
in a body of photographs unlike any other of that time period. Her work has
influenced and inspired photographers to present time. Even more impressive
than her aesthetics was her business sense. She copyrighted all her
photographs, not a common practice back then, and profited from the licensing
of her unique images.
