A Study
1865–66
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 13 9/16 × 10 3/8 in. (34.4 × 26.4 cm) Sheet: 13 9/16 × 10 3/8 in. (34.4 × 26.4 cm) Mount: 22 15/16 in. × 17 15/16 in. (58.2 × 45.6 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of James David Nelson, in memory of Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr., 1988
Accession Number
1990.1074.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879), a pioneering British photographer, created *A Study* around 1865–66, early in her remarkable career that began at age 48. Working primarily on the Isle of Wight, Cameron transformed photography from a mere documentary tool into an artistic medium, drawing inspiration from Pre-Raphaelite painting, literature, and mythology. Her portraits often featured soft-focus effects, achieved through deliberate lens manipulation and shallow depth of field, evoking dreamlike intimacy and emotional depth—revolutionary in an era prizing technical sharpness. This albumen si...
About the Artist
Julia Margaret Cameron · 1815–1879
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879), born Julia Margaret Pattle in Calcutta, India, emerged as one of the 19th century's most innovative photographers despite beginning her career at age 48. The daughter of East India Company official James Pattle and French aristocrat Adeline de l'Etang, she was educated in France from 1818 to 1834 alongside her six surviving sisters, renowned for their beauty and...