Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) is rightly considered a pioneer of photography. Born in India, she established her photographic practice while living on the Isle of Wight, inspired by the gift of a camera from her daughter in 1863. Her photographs broke conventions in the period and portray her strong artistic vision and determination. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) holds the largest collection of works by Cameron in the world. Here, Catlin Langford speaks to Senior Curator of Photography Marta Weiss and Curator of Photography Touring Exhibitions Lisa Springer, authors of the recently published Julia Margaret Cameron: Arresting Beauty.
Catlin Langford (CL): You previously collaborated with MACK on a Julia Margaret Cameron publication which also aligned with a 2015 exhibition. So why this publication, and why now?
Marta Weiss (MW): The 2015 publication was in celebration of Cameron’s bicentenary and accompanied the touring exhibition to Moscow, Ghent, Madrid, Tokyo and Sydney. The exhibition and publication were based entirely on the V&A’s collection, then comprising around 280 prints, and was organised around letters by Cameron to Henry Cole, the founding director of the V&A. The V&A
