Robert Browning, by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79)

Robert Browning

Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79)

1865

Photogravure

9 5/8 in. x 7 5/8 in. 246 mm x 194 mm

Published by T. Fisher Unwin

Acquired 1939, source unknown

The poet Robert Browning was among a number of famous people whom Julia Cameron photographed when visiting her sister Sara at Little Holland House, trundling her photographic equipment up from her home in the Isle of Wight for this purpose (see Ford 49). These sitters complied not simply out of friendship, but because of her growing reputation as a portraitist. [Commentary continues below; click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

Her particular skills were in taking close-ups with the right amount of blurring to bring out the features of the sitter – and in revealing character. She herself talked of wanting "to overcome realism by diminishing just in the least degree, the precision of focus" (qtd. in Hannavy 51). The results were striking:

Comparison of a standard studio portrait (photographic, pencil or paint) of Tennyson, Browning, or Carlyle with one of Cameron's portraits, using chiaroscuro lighting to reveal the subject's soul, is a salutary experience. Cameron seeks the vibrancy and dynamism that she saw in her sitters. As she said, "When I have had such men before my camera my whole soul has endeavoured to do its duty towards them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of the outer man." [Roberts 64]

However, sitting for her could be a daunting experience. Browning was one of those who suffered most from her efforts, or rather from her forgetfulness. The story is told that on one occasion, perhaps during the session when this photograph was taken, she asked him to remain motionless, and then went off to look for some photographic equipment, not remembering to rescue him for about two hours (see Thomas 234-35). He does look a bit forsaken here! — Jacqueline Banerjee

Sources

Ford, Colin. Julia Margaret Cameron: A Critical Biography. London: National Portrait Gallery, 2003.

Hannavy, John. Masters of Victorian Photography. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1976.

Roberts, Pam. "Julia Margaret Cameron: A Triumph over Criticism." In The Portrait in Photography. Ed. Graham Clarke. London: Reaktion Books, 1992. 47-70.

Thomas, Donald. Robert Browning: A Life within a Life. New York: Viking, 1983.

Last modified 3 March 2015