‘Flashing thro' the Gloom’: Julia Margaret Cameron's ‘Eccentricity’

Abstract

The facts of Julia Margaret (née Pattle) Cameron's legendary photographic saga are familiar to anyone who has read even the most cursory overview of the history of the medium: she did not take up photography until 1863 at the age of forty-eight; in only fifteen years she produced a remarkable body of some 3000 to 4000 prints from negatives of around 1000 images; and her achievement was fuelled by her boundless enthusiasm and seemingly tireless energy. In recent years, Cameron's working methods and photographic style have been examined in probing scholarly studies, and the feminist dimensions of her life and art have been carefully considered. Throughout the varied literature on Cameron, however, one theme recurs as a leitmotif: the artist's ‘eccentricity’. For over a century, reliance on this catchall concept has prevented a deeper look at Cameron's personality, creative process and artistic output. In this article, I will attempt such a look, which, while admittedly speculative, offers an alternative way of appreciating Cameron's achievement.

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