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| Albumen print from wet collodion negative 1864 24 X 29.7 cm Musée d'Orsay ... admired by Lewis Carroll that he collected the work. |
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| Albumen prin from wet collodion negative. 1862 11.0 X 6.8 cm sepia photograph, mounted green card, of a young woman leaning against a door. V&A Museum |
Lady Clementina Hawarden, one of Britain's first female photographers
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| Albumen print from wet collodion negative 1862-1863 10.5 X 8.8 cm sepia photograph,mounted on green card, of a young woman seated, hands crossed on chest. V&A Museum |
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| Albumen silver print from glass negative 20.1 X 14.4 cm early 1860s The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
front cover of one of my very favourite books of my favourite photographer.
the book was published in 1974
Clementina was born 1 June 1822 at Cumberland House near Glasgow
her mother was Spanish
She turned to photography in late 1857 oe early 1858, whilst living on the estate of her husband's family in Dundrum, Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
A move to London in 1859 allowed her to set up a studio in her elegant home in South Kensington.
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Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey wall, and grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
^ from Tennyson's Lady of Shalott ^
A since 1856, Lady Hawarden began to practice
photography as simple amateur but, in a short time, he learned all the tricks
and techniques. Lady Hawarden chose to immortalize themes and subjects
that belonged to his world: his estate of Dundrum, Ireland, where she was
photographing landscapes and especially his family.
In particular, the three elder
daughters were the protagonists of "living pictures" made around 1862-1863;
observing
their transition from childhood to adolescence, she depicts the masked and
preferably while reciting romantic scenes.
In the course of his work,
Lady Hawarden tried always to enhance the female beauty in all its sensuality
and expressiveness. However, rather singular fact, the artist never gave
a precise title to his photographs.
Despite the indications suggested by the costumes and
gestures made by models, photographed scenes remain open to all interpretations.
From modern
photographer was like, Lady Hawarden was interested more in the treatment of
light and its effects on transparency that no content properly narrative of his
shots.
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