Joseph D. Hooker

1864–1875

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.

1865–1866

Awards in Berlin

Her work won awards in Berlin in 1865 and 1866 and an honourable mention in Dublin.

1868

First artist-in-residence of the South Kensington Museum

In 1868 the South Kensington Museum gave her two rooms to use as a portrait studio, making her its first artist-in-residence. By then her prints were being sold by two London agents, P. & D. Colnaghi and William Spooner.

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.