Film Still Photography
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica iiif
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • Square Composition
    • Leading Lines
    • Symmetry
    • Framing
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
    • HCB The Decisive Moment
    • Zambian Portraits
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants
    • Diane Arbus Girl Sitting in Bed
    • Paul Strand Wall Street
Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

Julia Margaret Cameron: Focusing on Beauty

8/19/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
"lago" 1867 Perhaps one of her most iconic shots.
I thought I would spend the next few weeks considering how different photographers approached photography.  I am focusing on the past tense because living photographers are still adapting their art (or should be) so it would be difficult to pull this sort of post mortem analysis from a living photographer. My goal, as with everything on this site, is to see what more I can learn about photography.

The first photographer I would like to discuss is Julia Margaret Cameron who is a fascinating photographer of the Victorian period. Just as photography was growing, Julia received a camera as a gift from her family and went to work changing how the world sees. But what of her approach makes her so unique? 

Let me lead with that. Her focusing technique. Aside from all the amazing art she created, the one aspect that keeps pulling me back in is her use of focus. While most photographers (including myself) focus on an image until the object is as clear as possible, Margaret would focus "until the image is beautiful". Wow...just....wow.

And there, twenty or so lines into this post you have what took me days of consideration to understand. What draws me to her art is the absolute adherence to the beauty of an image and a willingness to break any "rules" to get there. And the result....well she achieves it.

I learned of Julia Margaret Cameron when I first began digging into the masters of this art that so intrigues me. Her work did not speak to me immediately as I was naturally drawn to "straight" photography with sharp, angular shapes and strong contrast. Her work was too subtle for me to understand at that point. I bought a book to come back to later and left her and her work alone. I was not yet ready for it.

I recently went on a trip to San Diego where I was fortunate to see a exhibit of her work. This time, with a bit more photography maturity behind me, I looked at her work from a very different perspective and began to "fall into" her photography.  I say that because it is how I felt...I felt as if I was falling into her photographs. I went and stood before each of her works that was on exhibit (no Iago was not one of them) and allowed myself to fall into it. I started with the details, then the facial expression and then I would allow myself to let go and...fall.  
Picture
Consider "Annie" shot in 1864 the daughter of a neighbor. This is what Julia considered her first success. But take a second and really consider the image like I did back in San Diego. Look at her eyes, details in her hair and on the button of her coat. Consider the background and its contrasting elements and finally the use of light. Now pull back, and just look at it. While not her best work, the beauty is there...it is not sharp, heck the focus is all over the place but wow. Annie's expression and the lack of sharp focus allows us to bring to mind images of our own children...it is like we know this girl, this image even if we are seeing it for the first time.
"The Annunciation" is a better example of what Julia was after. The religious theme which reflected her Christian devotion is there but the lessons she learned from her first success of "Annie" is repeated. The only thing in focus are the lilies which the angel Gabriel is presenting to Mary. The dark, contrasting background, the use of light and then pulling back it comes together like a fond memory. Here Mary is looking at Gabriel while he is looking at the lilies. This is one of two shots of this sitting that I have seen and both tell a similar story but when combined we get a better feel for what Julia was after.
Picture
Picture
Side by side we can see the differences. Note the movement of Mary in the image on the right. Perhaps this is why Julis printed the one on the left. She was already controversial for her use of out of focus shots and maybe she felt the movement was a bit much. But the distortion of Mary is minimal and it captures a look beyond the lilies...the thousand yard stare and some have called it. But with either image you have the subtle beauty that for years I was ill prepared to recognize.

The very first image in this post, is on of "Iago" was a paid model (some debate as to which model exists but let's move beyond that) and the image is a classic portrait of Julia's. Contrasting background, soft focus, filling the frame and amazing use of light. He does not look at the camera, he is looking down. The model is playing an evil character, a great manipulator in Shakespeare's Othello.  Perhaps he is ashamed, perhaps he is just pausing before his next manipulation or perhaps he has been caught and the image is the instant before the fall...this was not a candid shot...this was a carefully prepared, choreographed shot and it comes across amazingly well. 

But what of these elements makes it a memory of something I have never seen? That careful departure from the technical perfectionism and embracing or allowing the imperfections to aide the beauty of the image and her innate ability to capture emotion. But that soft focus, really pulls you in and then you realize that this is how you remember your dreams. They are not sharp in focus, they are soft, wiggly and imperfect but the convey our fears, anxieties and loves. Julia Margaret Cameron managed to capture images as we remember our dreams. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Patrick...confirmed film & digital photography addict.

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    December 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen, Lars Plougmann, FootMassagez, astrangelyisolatedplace, quinn.anya, spline_splinson
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica iiif
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • Square Composition
    • Leading Lines
    • Symmetry
    • Framing
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
    • HCB The Decisive Moment
    • Zambian Portraits
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants
    • Diane Arbus Girl Sitting in Bed
    • Paul Strand Wall Street