This morning I was looking through a photobook of Victorian pictures when I saw this portrait of Julia Stephens & her daughter Virginia, who later in life wrote novels (Virginia Woolf). The picture was taken by Henry H. H. Cameron.
I was amazed by how much Virginia resembles my little Teddy – although her mouth shape is very different by comparison.
Just now I saw a beautiful photograph online, it’s called the Gardener’s Daughter:
This was taken by Julia Cameron, Henry’s mother, whose niece – Julia Jackson – was Virginia Woolf’s mother. Such a pleasing synchronicity. Julia Cameron discovered a love of photography at the rather late age of 48, and she gave up taking pictures just 11 years later after moving to Ceylon (she found chemicals impossible to source), but even so, she took many beautiful photographs during that short time. Here is a remarkable portrait she took of her niece in 1867, aged 21.
Stunning portrait!
One of these is my new desktop background. The depth of feeling caught in one frame is enough to humble for a night.
‘One who reads the Soul’ photographer…breathtaking in the depth of this artist and her subject.