Laura G, Sassy 70’s5d ago

Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), “Julia Jackson,” 1867, albumen print, mounted on board, this print 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (24.9 x 19.8 cm.), listed at Christie’s 2 Apr 2019. #vintagephotography #darkroom #PhotographyHistory #womenphotographers #womenshistory

From the lot essay: “The present lot shows Julia Margaret Cameron’s niece, a young and recently-wed Julia Jackson, modeled as an example of Victorian purity and grace. As a steady fixture in Cameron's work, Jackson appears in more than fifty portraits by Cameron, her natural beauty embodying the artist’s pursuit of ideal reality. The measured lighting of Cameron’s photographs demonstrates an intention to confront the unadorned beauty of her subjects; this particular example relies on Jackson's natural countenance to depict austere elegance. The present lot is a fine example of the manner and intention of Pre-Raphaelite paintings that informed and inspired Cameron’s work.“

Show threadDaniel Johnson

@LauraJG Julia Jackson looks quite a bit like Virginia Woolf, who would find the description "embodying Victorian anything" deeply offensive. Woolf's circle of friends worked against the Victorian ideals of their parents' generation.

See also: Lytton Strachey's masterwork "Eminent Victorians."

Apr 9 at 7:57pmWeb
Show threadLaura G, Sassy 70’s4d ago

@ossobuffo oh, no doubt!

Here is a fun description of Cameron from Arthur Lubow in The New York Times, June 19, 2025:

‘More than two centuries after her birth, Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) is trendy. The appeal of her photography rests on her scornful disregard of rules, an attitude that colored all aspects of her life. As the daughter of a close friend recalled in a memoir, the artist was not merely unrestrained by “normal boundaries”: She was “unconscious of their very existence.”’