Julia Margaret CameronBritish, 1815–1879Untitled (Ceylon)
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Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
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- The museum
About the work
Julia Margaret Cameron gained renown for documenting "famous men and fair women" of her day, producing portraits and allegorical groups that were widely admired for their intimacy and emotional depth. In 1875, straitened financial circumstances forced her from her comfortable home on the Isle of Wight, where she was close to many luminaries of Victorian England to the family's coffee plantation in Ceylon. Cameron became enthralled with what she called "the primitive simplicity of the inhabitants," although she concentrated on only a few models—the Tamil women posing here were most likely maidservants working on her plantation. Beset by technical difficulties resulting from the warm and humid climate, and deprived of the audience she had had in England, Cameron produced but few photographs in these final years in Ceylon.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1970.839
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
Meanwhile, in the life of Julia Margaret Cameron
The whole life1864–1875
Eleven years of photography
Cameron's career as a photographer lasted from 1864 to 1875: in that time she made more than 900 photographs, portraying great Victorians — Darwin, Tennyson, Browning, Longfellow, Herschel, Watts, Trollope, Carlyle and the actress Ellen Terry. The Virgin Mary in her religious scenes was most often played by her housekeeper, Mary Hillier.
first half of the 1870s
Writes “Annals of My Glass House”
In the years of her mature work, crowned by the Idylls of the King, Cameron wrote her autobiography, “Annals of My Glass House”, which remained unfinished.
October 1873
Death of her daughter
In October 1873 Cameron's daughter died in childbirth.
1874–1875
Publishes her own “Idylls of the King”
Unhappy that the small size of her images in Tennyson's edition diminished their significance, Cameron issued, apparently at her own expense, a deluxe edition with twelve full-size photographs, her last large-scale project. Only three of her photographs appeared in Tennyson's book, and her separate album was a commercial failure.
1875
Leaves for Ceylon
Because of her husband's ill-health, the lower cost of living and to be near their sons, who were managing the family coffee plantations, the Camerons left Freshwater for Ceylon — taking a cow, her photographic equipment and two coffins in case such items could not be found in the East. The plan was kept secret even from their closest relatives.
1875–1879
Last photographs, in Ceylon
In Ceylon Cameron took few photographs, mostly of Tamil servants and workers; fewer than 30 images survive from this period. The heat made collodion hard to work with, and there was little fresh water for washing prints.
