Subversive and unwilling to play by the rules. This is why the body of work produced by British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) should still matter to us today.

How can one not admire the intent and courage it must have taken her to focus a camera lens in the era of wet plate photography (1860s-1870s) and then, just as often as not, deliberately have the mischievous bent to throw that lens slightly out of focus in order to create photographs often resembling the feelings found in dreams? Photographs that justifiably draw admiration and discussion even today of the lives of Victorian celebrities and house servants who were convinced to sit or be dragged in front of that camera.

For those inclined to learn the mysterious ingredient-and staying power so to speak-of Cameron’s photography-the answer might be a single word: “beauty”. This might indeed be the key, a Citizen Kane, Rosebud moment if you will, the one final word she reportedly uttered on her deathbed.

Beauty, and a renewed appreciation is what I took away from a visit late last year to a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art simply titled “Julia Margaret Cameron“.  

Surprisingly, it was first devoted solely to her work at the museum, a tightly edited overview comprised of 38 works, including several by her contemporaries: David Wilkie Wynfield, William Frederick Lake Price, and Oscar Gustav Rejlander.

The wall copy set the stage for those not already familiar with Cameron, describing her rightly as:

 “One of the greatest portraitists in the history of photography—indeed in any medium“…

A further explanatory statement in her own words followed:

“From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardour,” she wrote, “and it has become to me as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigour.” 

Words that no doubt have influenced scores of photographers, painters and others working in various artistic disciplines during the many decades since her passing. An important early tribute came in the lifetime of Cameron’s youngest son Henry Herschel Hay Cameron. (1852-1911) Inspired no doubt by his mother’s art, he was a working photographer who maintained a London studio, and provided the Introduction as well as a series of complimentary portraits paired with those by his mother for the folio volume Alfred, Lord Tennyson and his Friends. This series of 25 large-plate photogravures along with letterpress was published in a limited edition in 1893.

Other notable remembrances of Cameron’s work appeared earlier and much later. In 1890, the English publication Sun Artists featured four of her photographs: Sir John Herschel, Alfred Lord Tennyson and the allegorical works The Day Dream and The Kiss of Peace. All large-plate gravures for the 5th Number.

For Camera Work 41 published in 1913, editor Alfred Stieglitz presented five plates of Cameron’s work published as tissue gravures: two of Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, portraits of English polymath John Herschel and Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim and an allegorical study of English Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry taken done in 1864 when she was 16 originally titled “Sadness“.

Later in the British Number of the short-lived publication Platinum Print published in Feb. 1915, American photographer Clarence White’s essay titled Old Masters in Photography lauded Cameron as an early influence, singling out her photograph he most likely saw in an 1891 issue of Sun and Shade titled the Dalmatian Maid.

This portrait of Christina Spartali, a neighbor of Cameron on the Isle of Wight who was most certainly not a maid, as her family had made their fortune from the cotton trade and her father was Consul-General for Greece, was taken in 1868. White observed:

“While some questions have been raised as to the influence these workers have had on those of today, for my own part I must confess an influence on my work inspired by Mrs. Cameron’s “Dalmatian Maid,” a copy of which I saw in the days of my early efforts.” (p.4)

Although ended, photographs from the Cameron show at the Met can still be viewed in digital form, along with an ambitious project devoted to her and other notable photographers now ongoing on behalf of the rich photographic collection held by the Royal Photographic Society at the National Media Museum in Bradford, England.

Other treasures await additional scholarship. For our part, PhotoSeed presents with this post a seldom-seen work by Cameron formerly owned by Peter Hukill, (1927-2003) an early collector of fine art photography who built a collection thanks to the early efforts of galleries including the former Robert Schoelkopf Gallery in New York City, the records of which now reside in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Prescient, and subversive indeed. The Schoelkopf Gallery was apparently one of the first to feature photography as fine art in the United States. In 1967, it had the distinction of mounting the last solo show of Cameron’s work before the Met’s which opened in 2013: “timing it to coincide with a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that focused on Cameron as one of four Victorian photographers.” (1.)

1. excerpt: Robert Schoelkopf Gallery records, 1851-1991: Smithsonian Archives of American Art online resource: “In its early years the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery contributed considerably to the development of interest in fine art photography that fostered an increasingly lucrative market for photographic prints during the 1960s and 1970s.”

A curious photograph entered this archive last year, and with the debut of a new season of Downton Abbey upon us here in the States, I thought it important to pay homage to those women who made English Service, from circa 1917, the noble effort it was.

The English copperplate engraver, amateur photographer and Linked Ring Brotherhood member Walter L. Colls (1860-1942) (1.) was the son of  fine art dealer Lebbeus Colls, 1818-1897. (2.)

 

See examples of Work from the Walter L. Colls Atelier in this archive:

• Pictorial Photographs : A Record of the Photographic Salon of 1895
• Pictorial Photographs : A Record of the Photographic Salon of 1896

 

He developed an interest in amateur photography sometime before 1885. Early efforts were exhibited at the London Exhibition of Amateur Photography that year, where the London correspondent E.R.P. writing on April 30th for the Boston-based cycling magazine Outing described his entries- A Few Instantaneous Bits as: “Among other good work deserving of special mention are…a capital group of swans on the water; several really very fine”.  (3.)

Colls soon began exhibiting in the Royal Photographic Society exhibitions beginning in 1887 and later showed examples of his engraved commission work with them into the early 1900’s. Known by his professional Linked Ring pseudonym Aquafortist when first inducted in 1892, he later served as part of the Photographic Salon’s General Committee responsible for picture selection. In 1895, Colls received The Linked Ring’s commission to produce an annual portfolio of photogravures for the Salon exhibits from 1895-1897.

Initially trained as an artist, (4.) Colls had come from a family immersed in photography since the calotype era, as his father and uncle Richard Colls had exhibited “Sun pictures” before (presumably) he was born as early as 1851. (5.) At some point, most likely in the early 1870’s, he learned the trade and art of copperplate engraving and became a specialist in the area of reproducing photographs by this method, probably after joining Alfred Dawson’s London firm The Typographic Etching Company. Before leaving in late 1888 or early 1889, he had climbed the ranks to become chief photo-etcher. (6.)

At around this time or earlier, he became good friends with English photographer (born Cuba) Peter Henry Emerson. They both are named vice-presidents in the newly formed (1888) West London Photographic Society beginning in 1889.  (7.)
Before leaving the Typographic Etching Company, Colls had partnered along with Alfred Dawson to produce the photogravures for Emerson’s book Wild Life on a Tidal Water (published 1890). (8.)

Emerson may have been directly responsible for Colls leaving this firm, or at least giving him the opportunity to do so after singing his praises and quoting him directly on his  Methods of Reproducing Negatives from Nature for the Copper-Plate Press in his groundbreaking book Naturalistic Photography for Students of the Art. (1889) An excerpt:

Mr. Colls is a careful worker and perhaps therein lies the secret of his success. It is perhaps invidious to select a firm for special mention, but as the results of Mr. Colls are in every way so superior when artistically considered, we feel it our duty to record the fact here for the benefit of the student. (9.)

 In 1889, he produced the large-plate photogravure Breezy Marshland (22 x15”) for Emerson (10.) and went on to personally teach him the process of photogravure after Emerson purchased his own copperplate press.

Walter Colls commission work focused mainly on the production of copper plates for the reproduction of artwork, but occasionally he would combine his talents as a photographer. One interesting collaboration involved working with his brother Harry Colls, himself a fine artist and illustrator. Harry Colls provided the majority of the artwork (done 1896-97) and his brother the photographs for the first volume of the 1901 book The Tower of London. (11.)

As late as 1929, Colls continued to work from his Barnes studio, printing the copper plates executed by illustrator David Jones for a limited edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. (12.)

 

NOTES:

1.  WALTER LEBBEUS COLLS: B. SEPTEMBER, 1860: KENSINGTON DISTRICT OF LONDON: D.  MARCH, 1942: BARNES IN THE SURREY N.E. DISTRICT. COLLS MARRIED FLORENCE MARY DRURY-LOWE (B. 1885) AND PRODUCED A SON: STACY WALTER DRURY COLLS: B. JUNE, 1907: SOURCES: FAMILYSEARCH.ORG, FREE BMD AND ANCESTRY.COM
2. COLLS BIOGRAPHY: PHOTOLONDON WEBSITE: 2011. HIS OLDER BROTHER HARRY COLLS: B. 1856 WAS A MARINE PAINTER.
3. OUTING-AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF RECREATION: VOL. VI: 1885: THE WHEELMAN COMPANY: BOSTON: P. 484
4. PHOTO-MECHANICAL PROCESSES: IN: NATURALISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY FOR STUDENTS OF THE ART: P. H. EMERSON:  SAMPSON, LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON: SECOND EDITION REVISED: LONDON: 1890: P. 209
5. REPORTS BY THE JURIES-ON THE SUBJECTS IN THE THIRTY CLASSES INTO WHICH THE EXHIBITION WAS DIVIDED: WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS: LONDON: 1852: P. 278
6. EXCERPT REPRINT: IN: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TIMES: 1898: P. 448: FROM: NATURALISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY FOR STUDENTS OF THE ART: P. H. EMERSON:  SAMPSON, LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON: LONDON: 1889
7. PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES AND BRITISH COLONIES: IN: THE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL OF ANTHONYS PHOTOGRAPHIC BULLETIN: ILIFFE & SON: LONDON: VOLUME II: 1889: P. 478
8. P.H. EMERSON-THE FIGHT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AS A FINE ART: NANCY NEWHALL: AN APERTURE MONOGRAPH: NEW YORK: 1975: P.83
9. EXCERPT REPRINT: IN: THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TIMES: 1898: P. 448: FROM: NATURALISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY FOR STUDENTS OF THE ART: P. H. EMERSON:  SAMPSON, LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE & RIVINGTON: LONDON: 1889
10. ENGLISH NOTES: TALBOT ARCHER: IN: ANTHONY’S PHOTOGRAPHIC BULLETIN: E.& H.T. ANTHONY & CO.: NEW YORK: MAY 24, 1890: P. 299
11. INTRODUCTION: IN: THE TOWER OF LONDON: LORD RONALD SUTHERLAND GOWER, F.S.A.: GEORGE BELL & SONS: LONDON: VOL. 1,1901: XI
12. COLOPHON: THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER: PUBLISHED BY DOUGLAS CLEVERDON:  FANFARE PRESS: BRISTOL: 1929

Beyond the Tweets, texts and messaging saturating our present-day social media culture-recently extending even to software giving a smartphone user the ability to view a photograph just once before it disappears into the ether forever, (Snapchat et al apps) the endurance, value and cultural importance of the printed word and photograph need be considered-indeed marveled at-for the historical record and of course for posterity itself.

Consider today’s example, a postcard featuring an original cyanotype photograph of a well-dressed gentleman reading a newspaper. Addressed and posted to Harold A. Buffington of Littleton, New Hampshire in October, 1906, (1.) this simple and lasting form of communication is signed  “Papa”, (2.) with the suggestion for his son to come over on Sunday for a visit in order to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie.

Before getting to the nut graph as they say in newspaper lingo, “Papa”: aka Arthur W. Buffington, (b. 1868) begins his correspondence with a quote from a well known (at least for its time) story celebrating the importance of small town rags everywhere. It might not be surprising given his listed occupation as a printer for the 1900 U.S. Census. Owner of the Buffington Press in Littleton during this period, (they printed cookbooks among other volumes) he writes on the postcard:

The Little Country Paper

It tells of all the parties an’ the balls of Pumpkin Row‘Bout who’s spent Sunday with who’s girl, an’ how the crops’ll grow.An’ how it keeps a feller posted ‘bout who’s up and who’s down.That little country paper from his ol’ Home Town.

This entire “story” seems to have originated around 1903 or before by someone writing for the Denver Post newspaper in Colorado. I’ve taken the liberty to include it in its entirety at the end of this post (as it originally appeared) along with another similarly titled “story” I discovered from the era . And the juicy part? “Papa” writes:

Come down Sunday. Mamma has made a whole pumpkin pie and I have only had one piece out of it. (you can divide your piece with L. O and mamma and Ray don’t like punkin very well!)  Papa.

In addition to the slice of pie he presumably ate, the postcard might have even inspired Harold Buffington to get ink in his blood like his father, for he is listed in the 1940 U.S. Census as a printer for the Courier office, still known today as the Littleton Courier, a weekly newspaper published since 1889.

The Little Country Paper

When the evenin’ shades is fallin’ at the endin’ o’  the day, An’ a feller rests from labor, smokin’ at his pipe o’ clay. There’s nothin’ does him so much good, be fortune up or down, As the little country paper from his O’l Home Town.
It ain’t a thing o’ beauty an’ its print ain’t always clean. But it straightens out his temper when a feller’s feelin’ mean. It takes the wrinkles off his face an’ brushes off the frown. That little country paper from his Ol’ Home Town.
It tells of all the parties an’ the balls of Pumpkin Row. ‘Bout who spent Sunday with who’s girl an’ how th’ crops’ll grow. An’ how it keeps a feller posted ‘bout who’s up an’ who is down. That little country paper from his O’l Home Town.
Now, I like to read the dailies an’ the story papers too. An’ at times the yaller novels an’ some other trash—don’t you? But when I want some readin’ that’ll brush away a frown I want that little paper from my O’l Home Town.  (3.)

The following with the same title originated in the Baltimore (MD) American newspaper in 1900 or before, and may have inspired the Denver Post account of The Little Country Paper:

The Little Country Paper

It’s just a little paper-it isn’t up to date:
It hasn’t any supplement or colored fashion plate.
It comes out every Friday, unless the forms are pied;
The outside is home printed, with boiler-plate inside.
It hasn’t any cable direct from old Bombay,
But it says that “Colonel Braggins is in our midst to-day.”
It doesn’t seem to worry about affairs of state.
But tells that “Joseph Hawkins has painted his front gate.”
It never mentions Kruger or Joseph Chamberlain.
But says that “Thompson’s grocery has a new window pane.”
And that “the Mission Workers will give a festival.
And there’ll be a temperance lecture in William Hooper’s hall.”
It tells about the measles that Jimmy Hankins had.
And says that Israel Johnson “has become a happy dad.”
It says that “cider-making is shortly to commence.”
And cites the fact that Ira Todd is building a new fence.
It mentions Dewey’s coming in one brief paragraph, And says that “Charlie Trimble has sold a yearling calf.” And everything that happens within that little town The man who runs the paper has plainly jotted down.
Some people make fun of it, but, honestly, I like To learn that “work is booming upon the Jimtown pike.”
It’s just a little paper—it hasn’t much to say—
But as long as it is printed I hope it comes my way. (4.)

-30-

Notes

1. It is believed the gentleman in the cyanotype photograph reading the newspaper is also the recipient of the postcard: Harold A. Buffington, a student who would have been 20 years old in 1906. (b.: September 12, 1886 | d. March, 1976. source: Crestleaf)
2. “Papa” was Arthur W. Buffington (b. 1868) who lived in Lisbon, New Hampshire at the time he mailed this postcard
3. The Little Country Paper: Denver Post: reprinted in the Mansfield (OH) News: Saturday, October 24, 1903
4. Newspaper Verse: Selections Grave and Gay: Current Literature-A Magazine of Record and Review: New York: Vol. XXVIII: April-June, 1900: pp. 192-93