Julia M Cameron & Blue Plaque with English Heritage

REVEALING OF THE BLUE PLAQUE FOR JULIA CAMERON

I was invited to photograph the unveiling of an English Heritage blue plaque at Julia Margaret Cameron’s former London home. I captured including photographer Tim Walker, Dr Marta Weiss of the V&A, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon and artist Hannah Starkey and Cameron’s descendants, Jules Cameron and Antonia Cameron. It was a privilege to photograph them using wet collodion and to connect the history of this early photographic process with the present generation of Cameron’s family.

Working from a temporary darkroom immediately after the unveiling, I created the plates on location, bringing my wet plate studio with me for this history-shaping event.

Julia Margaret Cameron is one of my personal heroines and is now recognised as one of the most important portrait photographers of the 19th century, despite being overlooked and criticised by many of her male contemporaries.

Portable wet plate equipment was provided by Zebra.