museums and collections

julia margaret cameron's women contains 63 different plates representing magnificent victorian portraits photographed back in 1864 to 1874. every plates are monochromed in sepia or black & white. ...5 pages are consacrated to her models biographies,her favorite ones like: julia prinsep jackson (mother of virginia woolf & painter vanessa bell), mary ann hillier (her maid,cameron described her as one of the most beautiful & constant of her models.) , Alice Pleasance Liddell (aka the little girl from whom Lewis Caroll wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in 1865)..etc.. - 5 other pages focuses on cameron's Literary & mythological subjects:from "DAPHNE" (nymph pursued by the god Apollo) to "OPHELIA" (from shakespeare's "Hamlet")..all are well explained and presented...the rest of the 242 pages are dedicated to margaret's life, her debuts,her Illustrations to tennyson's "Idylls of the king", her different relations... - all fans of painting & photography should own this book! it is a unique reference! cameron was and still is one of the greatest portrait photographers of all time...

other interesting books in this genre: "Reflections in a looking Glass" a centennial celebration of Lewis carroll. , "Photo Historica" landmarks in photography , "a new history of photography" edited by michel frizot.

This amazing book is well worth the investment. These photos still have the power to knock one over the head with their dizzying beauty. Too often people look to the men who made up the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood for an ideal of the Victorian woman. For a fresh look, one should explore Victoriana through the eyes of the women themselves. Cameron's photography is the perfect counterpart to Christina Rosetti's poetry. Enjoy.

Most photographs here were made in ca. 1870. Looking through the book, I imagine that at that time photography was still so new, so unprecedented, that no one yet had idea of what portrait photography was to become. An art? Or a detailed recording of what the eye perceives? In this ambiguity, Julia Margaret Cameron shows herself in this volume to be great artist, a portrait photographer second to none. In the faces of her women, I can see stories and history as recorded nowhere else.

Most notable is the series of images of Julia Jackson. (She also appears on the front and back covers.) One can see her life evolve over the time span of the photos. These images become even more interesting upon learning she was mother of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. So here at last is the real Mrs. Ramsey.