Circe
"My aspirations are to ennoble Photography," wrote Cameron, "and to secure for it the character and uses of High Art by combining the real & Ideal...."
Rather than strive for superficial accuracy in costume and setting, Cameron sought to record through the faces of her family and friends the qualities of innocence, wisdom, piety, or passion ascribed to great biblical, historical, and legendary figures. Unconcerned with technical perfection in her prints, Cameron used a long exposure and shallow depth of field to give that slight sense of animation--of breath--that merges the young girl with her mythic character and seems to bring her into the viewer's presence.
Rather than strive for superficial accuracy in costume and setting, Cameron sought to record through the faces of her family and friends the qualities of innocence, wisdom, piety, or passion ascribed to great biblical, historical, and legendary figures. Unconcerned with technical perfection in her prints, Cameron used a long exposure and shallow depth of field to give that slight sense of animation--of breath--that merges the young girl with her mythic character and seems to bring her into the viewer's presence.
Artwork Details
- Title: Circe
- Artist: Julia Margaret Cameron (British (born India), Calcutta 1815–1879 Kalutara, Ceylon)
- Date: 1865
- Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Dimensions: 25.3 x 20.1 cm. (9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Bequest of James David Nelson, in memory of Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr., 1988
- Object Number: 1990.1074.4
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Julia Margaret Cameron
ca. 1865
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874
Julia Margaret Cameron
September 1874
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874
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