Julia Margaret Cameron

Good Morning,

A slightly different blog post today! Recently I went to an exhibition of Julia Margaret Cameron's work (1815-1879), she was a late blooming photographer who really experimented with portraiture. She was not afraid to close crop, blur and smudge her images, these methods so commonplace today were pioneering in her time. She was never afraid to use cracked negatives to create a new and interesting effect; and she was much derided by her fellow photographers.

I was wandering around the exhibition and could scarcely believe that some of these prints were 150 years old. She managed to capture a contemporary yet timeless element to her subjects that stand well with the imagery of today.

I did feel a little sad that photography and the art of taking an image seems to have become very devalued over the last decade and where are the prints that will be viewed in another 150 years; I truly hope they will not be lost in the digital mire. There are so many wonderful cameras on the market and in the right hands can really open up new and exciting opportunities for the photographers of today. On the flip side this new technology is giving rise to a fallacy that the camera will 'work' everything out and the operator will always get a good image. Alas this is not so, seeing light, creating light, composition, storytelling, instructing the camera and not letting it instruct you are the things that separate the a photographer from an operator who has bought a lovely camera.

All this from one exhibition, very profound; and I am sure she would be very pleased to think that generations later she is still having an effect on the photographers of today. I now know why I get so excited when I receive my albums and wall art back from the manufacturers, these images are here to stay for generation, upon generation of that person's family to look, touch and feel the emotion that was captured by the photographer and immortalised as a moment in time.

Have a great day everyone!

Claire