Antique Image of the Day: The Red and White Roses, 1865

The Red and White RosePhotograph by Julian Margaret Cameron, 1865
Image of Kate and Elizabeth Keown
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) was the child of James Pattle, an official with the East India Company and a French aristocratic mother. Julia, along with her sisters, was celebrated for her beauty and charm. Ultimately, Julia was sent from Calcutta to England to receive a formal education. There, she became friends with many notables of the day, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Julia became a regular at the Freshwater estate on the Isle of Wight which became known as something of a haven for artists. At Freshwater, Julia became interested in photography.

At the age of forty-eight, Julia was given a camera by her daughter and son-in-law. As the V&A puts it, “The gift marks the beginning of what would quickly become her all- encompassing application to the "art" of photography. Setting up the coal store as a dark-room and the glass-enclosed chicken house as a studio, she began her single handed photographic investigations fervently, annotating a portrait study of Annie Philpot ‘my first success’ a month later in January 1864.”

Cameron’s photography was often smudged and out-of-focus. This drew harsh criticism during her lifetime, but modern scholars think these choices were intentional. Here’s an excellent example of Cameron’s work--a photograph of the sisters Kate and Elizabeth Keown from the shoulders up. Kate is the sister holding the roses. The image was taken in 1865 on the Isle of Wight.