Although her career as a photographer lasted only some 16 years, Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) is acknowledged as a pioneer of the medium, creating a remarkable oeuvre of portraits and other photographic compositions.
She had received her first camera as a present from her daughter and son-in-law when she was 48 and living at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight: “It may amuse you, Mother, to try to photograph during your solitude at Freshwater.”
Several years previously, she had been introduced to the wonders of photography by her friend Sir John Herschel, the British astronomer. It soon became Cameron’s passion and among the famous images she created in the following years is The Dream from April 1869, above.