Cameron, Julia Margaret

(born June 11, 1815, Calcutta, India—died Jan. 26, 1879, Kalutara, Ceylon) British portrait photographer. In 1864, after receiving a camera as a gift, she set up a studio and darkroom and began taking portraits. Her sitters were friends such as Alfred Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Charles Darwin. Her sensitive portraits of women, such as that of Ellen Terry, are especially noteworthy. Like many Victorian photographers, she made allegorical photographs in imitation of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings of the day. Her technical ability was criticized, but she was more interested in spiritual depth than in technical perfection; her portraits are considered exceptionally fine.

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