Accommodation of accident radical. Ran against both artistic and photographic institutions of the time. Gives an insight into the modernity of the time.
Hailing from the colonies, she stood out against the society of her time. She also later suffered from debt as family fortunes failed due to the collapse of coffee growing in Sri Lanka.
The value of the imperfect copy. Can be understood in relation to her colonial past in which the original culture was far away. The colonial background enabled her to work like this and uphold more traditional values that England had lost.
Her social status was threatened by the collapse of her family’s coffee business.
Annals of my glass house is a short book by JMC that is worth reading.
The low aesthetic taste of the popular seen in more technically perfect works not something that appealed to her.
Function of accident in her work! Language in correspondence with Watts revealing of aesthetic conception; Watts still charmed by her work even though he was critical of it. She grudgingly tried to improve her technique but maintained her aesthetic inspirations.
Giving life to inert materials has been concern of art since the Renaissance!
Lady Eastlake questioned the thoughtless exactitude of photography.
JMC handled her lens tenderly! She preferred chiaroscuro rather than overhead lights and also ignored use of head rests. A mistake marks something as human, not conforming to the machine.
Tears appearing on photographs suggest femininity though some oppose this interpretation. Radical modernism of her practice!
Andy Warhol and JMC have similarities … pushed against norms in a theatrical way! Both made icons of people; subverting mechanicalness.
Barbara Bryant, an independent scholar, whose topic is Little Holland House. She mentions JMC’s relationship with G.F.Watts
JMC’s origins as a photographer did not start with gift of a camera. She also gained a great deal through her younger sisters at Holland House.
Exotic sense of style came from time in India.
Little Holland House is now part of Holland Park. A lot of eminent people visited. GF Watts had a studio here and painted JMC’s sisters. He wanted to avoid “vulgar” portraiture of the time. JMC inspired by Watts it seems.
Prince Albert was a photographic enthusiast as was Lord Somers, a brother in law to JMC.
Many considered photography to be unsurpassed in its’ rendition of beauty. OJ Rejlander from Sweden part of this group; sold work such as the Two Ways of Life to Prince Albert so became well known.
Dating photographs by looking at age of people in them.
Watts advised JMC on arranging drapery within photographs.
Watts nicknamed Signor owing to time he spent in Italy which was influential to him.
Photographs made for fun of friends etc good for developing composition but often there was no intention to use them.
Using photographs for drawing and painting also to create family trees.
Other people photographing in the 1850’s; JMC greatly influenced by photos being made around Watts at Little Holland House.
Signor an album put together at the time by JMC Watts (mentioned later in the day as a potential source for more to be found out about JMC; it is n longer in the UK).
Watts was not a member of the RA; struck out on his own to create something different.
Before we break for lunch here is a discussion.
(Someone objects to me taking photographs! I have been taking too many in an attempt to get a good one. The lady who approaches me is from the V&A; it is however a man presumably also from the V&A who has objected as I heard him talking to her! I understand that some lecturers might not want to be pictured and also that some of the photos being shown are from private collections; the latter are not my real interest. I am not the only one taking photographs of course, some of the lecturers are doing likewise! Others are using more powerful cameras than myself. This brings up questions about the use of photography but outside the remit of this conference. The objection reminds me of what Barthes said about restricting photography by making it art!)
Photographs as sketches. This approach was being pursued around Watts.
JMC made different kinds of albums.
Photographs aspiring to be live paintings. JMC wants life to be part of the photographs hence mistakes are part of her work.
Who might JMC be compared to today? Vivienne Westwood perhaps. Warhol not alike in personality but both had a similar kind of volcanic energy. (What about Annie Leibovitz as a contemporary JMC? She has photographed many celebrities including the queen yet managed to bankrupt herself! Technique though is faultless probably thanks to having many assistants. There is a similar flamboyance though, a sense of grandness.)
JMC remarkable in way she has survived the post modern shift; Ansel Adams does not seem to have done so.
Jungian interpretations of her work.
JMC claiming copyright for her work was taking advantage of new laws. She did have commercial aspirations, to be a professional artist.
Rapid career development owing to connections. Initially, had the money to do it but later did not. Easy to forget how difficult photography was in those days. Process less predictable. Focusing on ground glass not easy as well as chemical influences. JMC playing with the process, finding it fun. Did she become less enthused? Talk of her wonder being diminished but not her enjoyment of the process.
She took up photography to help with the education of one of her boys. From the beginning, she saw a commercial interest but this does not seem to have adversely effect her work.
Did JMC photograph her photographs? The official photographer at the V&A would have done so.
Honey-combing in images did bother her yet still a sign of life. ” A cruel calamity that befalls her negatives” was JMC view; she was alarmed by it! Her accommodation of accident different to some conceptual artists; deterioration over time not so appealing to JMC.
Inattentiveness to her own appearance was a characteristic of JMC!
(Did JMC consider herself to be an artist or just a photographer? This is a question I might have asked but did not!)
LUNCH
I make my way to a health food restaurant in Exhibition Road! Might have made more sense to have tried to talk to the lady organising but I did not feel drawn to making contact with any of the speakers.
The next talk is by Joanne Lukitsh, and concerns JMC’s Anglican Madonna
More on the dialogue that JMC continues to inspire. She did a lot of images about sacred maternity! Quotes from the Bible! E.g. John 14.19, James 5.16, Luke 2.19
Nine Fruits of the Spirit is one example of this kind of approach. Repurposing imagery from painting. Christian comment and attitudes towards the Madonna. Invoking Christianity and history of Western art.
Photographs named. E.g. Goodness (1864), also love, faith, meekness, gentleness, temperance, long-suffering, joy, peace …
Children also involved in these pictures.
These pictures are of the Anglican Madonna; another series called La Madonna and given Latin names.
There were objections to JMC’s use of Holy scripture.
Blessing and Blessed, Grace through love were different titles; Daughters of Jerusalem also Shadow of the Cross.
Cameron idea to make life size heads encouraged by Watts.
The shadow of the cross 1865, Devotion, La Madonna Purissima 1868 is a direct reference to Italian painting; downcast eyes …
Annals of my Glass House begins with mention of her international success; looks like she did not want to explore other themes such as practical problemsShe was concerned with the imperfections in the materiality of her work.
Cameron, Class, Colonialism by Juliet Hacking is the next talk.
Images of Sophia Dalrymple. Possible to identify and learn more about the photographs of JMC through close examination of details in images such as by looking closely at the architecture in the background. JMC was involved in photographs from 1850 as a model.
Idea of JMC as an eccentric and that she dignified photography with her social status?
Not seeing the Sri Lankan photographs as seperate as all her work is inspiredcolonial !!
Can you turn a man down if he is good and would take you off your parents? Is a theme behind one photo that reflects the morality of the time.
Colonial service highly regarded as gave chance to act as well as think.
Photographs of colonial subjects. Attempts to gloss over political events?
Use of colonials as models!
All kinds of people were JMC models … beggar, servant, close relative etc
Literary perspective, picturesque ideals
Paternalistic Colonialism
Sunara Begum who is a photographer/artist; her exhibition Truth and Art has been made into a film of the same name.
Met a Sri Lankan living in London called Dunstan Perera who came to her exhibition and became her guide. Gave her some old photos from Sri Lanka. Dunstan has also created work about Sri Lanka called Faces of Sri Lanka. Used pigments to paint on images. Made photos during 1960’s. Inspired by Julia Margaret Cameron. Dimbola Museum in Isle of White was good to visit.
She did an exhibition with Dunstan. Many of her prints done on Bockingford paper.
Visited Dilmah estates which were owned by the Camerons. Glencairn Bungalow is where JMC lived.
Tracy Shields
has spent last 10 years researching for a film about JMC.
Stayed near Dimbola Lodge JMC’s home in Isle of White
Beauty is timeless and JMC embodied it.
1845 Daguerrotype of JMC and daughter Julia made in India
Shows a short film about JMC with Hendrix music “The wind cries Mary”.
Dimbola House was saved in Isle of White thanks to intervention; now a successful gallery.
Glencairn Bungalow in Hatton Sri Lanka
More has been written about JMC than any other photographer?!
Much more to be discovered and learnt about JMC
NB photographic historians not the best people to learn photography from !!
Does not really help to know too much about what was going on yet this was a fascinating day which I enjoyed.
Cf V&A word and image