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Julia Margaret Cameron: The Colonial Shadows of Victorian Photography
A bold new study of Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs, charting the legacy of colonialism following the 1857 Indian Uprising
Julia Margaret Cameron’s photography unfolded in the shadow of the 1857 Indian Uprising, the momentous anticolonial revolt against British rule. Jeff Rosen situates Cameron, best known for her portraits of the Victorian elite, at the centre of a colonialist culture in crisis, revealing how she first responded to the war in India by drawing upon her experience creating photographic albums, and then demonstrating how she began to generate imagery that visualised Britain’s imperial power.
In this book, Rosen examines how Cameron and her family processed news of the rebellion alongside former colonists and government officials, men such as Sir John Herschel, Lord Lansdowne, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and her husband, Charles Cameron. He also demonstrates how Cameron’s artistic choices were inspired by the fine art criticism associated with the Arundel Society and the South Kensington Museum. In the process, Rosen analyses the symbolism in Cameron’s portraits, the political codes in her imagery of widows and orphans, and the historical narratives that informed her allegories of the revolt and its aftermath.
Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Julia Margaret Cameron’s photography unfolded in the shadow of the 1857 Indian Uprising, the momentous anticolonial revolt against British rule. Jeff Rosen situates Cameron, best known for her portraits of the Victorian elite, at the centre of a colonialist culture in crisis, revealing how she first responded to the war in India by drawing upon her experience creating photographic albums, and then demonstrating how she began to generate imagery that visualised Britain’s imperial power.
In this book, Rosen examines how Cameron and her family processed news of the rebellion alongside former colonists and government officials, men such as Sir John Herschel, Lord Lansdowne, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and her husband, Charles Cameron. He also demonstrates how Cameron’s artistic choices were inspired by the fine art criticism associated with the Arundel Society and the South Kensington Museum. In the process, Rosen analyses the symbolism in Cameron’s portraits, the political codes in her imagery of widows and orphans, and the historical narratives that informed her allegories of the revolt and its aftermath.
Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
292 pages, Hardcover
Published June 11, 2024
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September 11, 2024
This ground-breaking examination of Julia Margaret Cameron, born in Calcutta, and married to an East India Company official, as primarily a representative of the Anglo-Indian community, sheds new light on the scope of her influence … the evolving impact of the Indian Uprising/Mutiny in 1857 (her photographic career did not begin until 1864), is symbolized by the commemoration of the Well of Cawnpore, and various activities of Cameron’s circle at Little Holland House and later Freshwater … in this volume Cameron’s photography plays a secondary role … eye-opening …
Displaying 1 of 1 review