What are the characteristics of Cameron's portrait photography?

The wet printing method of collodion provides good creative conditions for professional photographers, and amateur photographers have made great achievements through their efforts. Julia. Margaret. Julia Margretcameron (1815 ~1879) is a famous amateur portrait photographer in the early photography history.

Biographer Graham's biography of the British female photographer began like this:1In the summer of 860, people who went to the Isle of Wight in England often met Cameron, a strange person, and were surprised when walking in Danshui Bay. She is a stout middle-aged woman with pungent black spots of developer on her face, hands and bright red velvet clothes. She would suddenly stick her head out from behind the flowers and say in a hoarse voice, "Come in and look like a fairy!" "

Cameron started photography on 1863, when she was 48 years old. My first camera was given to me by my daughter and son-in-law. They hoped it would help me live alone in Danshui Bay. This commemorative gift has aroused my original love for beauty more and more. In my hands, it has become a living body with sound, memory and creativity.

Since then, Cameron has been fascinated by photography. She used the camera as a pastime and took many excellent portraits in her glass room. Most of her subjects are relatives, friends and celebrities in social circles. At that time, some British scientists, poets, painters and inventors were invited to visit the glass house on the Isle of Wight and left immortal portraits.

The great power of Cameron's works lies in expressing the "inner noble character" of the characters with photography. She is good at exploring and expressing the inner feelings of characters in the form of close-ups. In order to achieve the pursuit of the realm, she used close-range shooting and strictly controlled the modeling role of light to obtain moving photos. For example, Darwin's thick round head was illuminated by light from above and stood out on the screen. The light on the right highlights Sir Herschel's face and hair.

Sometimes, Cameron deliberately uses low-quality lenses to blur the contours of people's faces in order to create dramatic effects. Sir Herschel is such a masterpiece. Although the focus of this work is not very clear, it shows the strong personality of the characters. The deep wrinkles on his forehead, old eyes with gods, tight lips, flying white hair and distinctive eyebrows all show that Herschel is a man of thought and character.

In that era when clarity and accuracy were the standard of photos, Cameron's shooting style was naturally incompatible with the popular portrait photography at that time. Therefore, when her works were exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society, they were rated as "inferior in art" by critics. In this regard, Cameron argued: Who has the right to specify what kind of focus is the legal focus? ..... I use the "unclear" focus to get the fullness and roundness of the skin ... My purpose is to improve the photography level and ensure that the characters are displayed. ...

Cameron's attempts and efforts to express the inner world of the characters were finally re-recognized and affirmed in the 20th century. She showed her great achievements in portrait photography with an innovative spirit beyond the times.