A Collection of Victorian Era Portraits by Lady Clementina Hawarden (1860s)

Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden, née Clementina Elphinstone Fleeming (1822 – 1865), commonly known as Lady Clementina Hawarden, was a noted English portrait amateur photographer of the Victorian Era, producing over 800 photographs mostly of her adolescent daughter.

A photograph of a young woman in a dancing costume, possibly Isabella Hawarden (b. 1846), taken by Clementina, Lady Hawarden, in about 1863 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum via

A photograph of Isabella Grace Hawarden (b. 1846) taken by her mother, Clementina, Lady Hawarden, in about 1862 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum via

Two women by window, one standing and one kneeling. A photograph of two young girls, probably Clementina (b. 1847) and Florence Hawarden (b. 1849), taken by Clementina, Lady Hawarden, in about 1860 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum via

Portrait of ‘Clementina Maude’ by Lady Clementina Hawarden, albumen print, 1863, woman reading seated beside window © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum via

Woman on balcony. A photograph of Clementina Hawarden (b. 1847), taken by her mother, Viscountess Clementina Hawarden in about 1862 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum via

Amazing Victorian Photography by Julia Margaret Cameron

The Gardener’s Daughter by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1867 via

Magdalene Brookfield by Julia Margaret, 1865 via

Mary Ann Hillier by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1873 via

Lionel Tennyson with bow & arrow by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1863 via

The Rosebud Garden of Girls by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868 via

Gretchen by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1870 via

 

Maiden at the Well (Lilian Greuze). Photogravures by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, early 1900s

French stage actress, model, and later, film actress Mlle. Lilian Greuze, was associated with both Sarah Bernhardt and Polaire. She appeared in several silent films, and went on to appear in the talkies as well.

Here she is in a series of “woman at the well” postcards; a theme that easily can be counted as a sub-genre of turn of the century picture postcards. The Photogravures are by French photographer Leopold Reutlinger (1863-1937).

Maiden at the Well Photogravure of Lilian Greuze by Leopold Reutlinger via

Maiden at the Well Photogravure of Lilian Greuze by Leopold Reutlinger via

Maiden at the Well Photogravure of Lilian Greuze by Leopold Reutlinger via

Maiden at the Well. Photogravure of Lilian Greuze by Leopold Reutlinger via

Beautiful Victorian Portraits by Lady Clementina Hawarden

Lady Clementina Hawarden (1822 – 1865) was a noted portrait photographer of the Victorian Era.

She turned to photography in late 1857 or 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.

The furniture and characteristic decor of an upper-class London home was removed in order to create mise-en-scène images and theatrical poses within the first floor of her home – Hawarden’s characteristic portraits include her daughters Isabella Grace, Clementina, and Florence Elizabeth.

Hawarden produced albumen prints from wet-plate collodion negatives, a method commonly used at the time. Her work was widely acclaimed for its “artistic excellence”. Hawarden was considered an amateur photographer and while appreciated for her work, never became widely known as a photographer. Her photographic years were brief but prolific. Hawarden produced over eight hundred photographs from 1857-1864 before her sudden death. she died after suffering from pneumonia for one week, aged 42. It has been suggested that her immune system was weakened by constant contact with the photographic chemicals.

Her work is likened to Julia Margaret Cameron, another Victorian female photographer.

A photograph that is possibly a self-portrait of Clementina, Lady Hawarden, taken in about 1862 via

Isabella by Clementina, Lady Hawarden via

Isabella by Lady Clementina Hawarden via

Clementina reading while sitting at the window wearing some kind of fancy dress or theatrical costume, ca. 1862-63 by Lady Clementina Hawarden via

Clementina, reading a book by Clementina, Lady Hawarden via

Impressive Pioneer Photography by Hill & Adamson (1843 – 1848)

In 1843 artist David Octavius Hill joined engineer Robert Adamson in partnership at Rock House on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland.

During their brief four year partnership, between 1843-1848, Hill & Adamson produced the first substantial body of self-consciously artistic work using the newly invented medium of photography.

David Octavius Hill, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848), 1843 via

Miss Matilda Rigby, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848) via

The bird-cage, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848)  via

A Discussion,  Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848), via

The Letter, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848) via

Mr Laing or Laine, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848) via

Piper and Drummer of the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, Edinburgh Castle, Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848) via

The Scott Monument,  Hill & Adamson (Scottish, active 1843 – 1848), about 1845 via

Pictorialism from the Turn-of the-Century Photo-Secession Movement

The Photo-Secession was an early-20th-century movement that promoted photography as a fine art.

A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 1900s, held the then controversial viewpoint that what was significant about a photograph was not what was in front of the camera but the manipulation of the image by the artist/photographer to achieve his or her subjective vision.

The movement helped to raise standards and awareness of art photography. Proponents of Pictorialism, which was the underlying value of the Photo-Secession, argued that photography needed to emulate the painting and etching of the time. Pictorialists believed that, just as a painting is distinctive because of the artist’s manipulation of the materials to achieve an effect, so too should the photographer alter or manipulate the photographic image. Among the methods used were soft focus; special filters and lens coatings; burning, dodging and/or cropping in the darkroom to edit the content of the image; and alternative printing processes such as sepia toning, carbon printing, platinum printing or gum bichromate processing.

The “membership” of the Photo-Secession varied according to Stieglitz’s interests and temperament but was centered around the core group of Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Clarence H. White, Gertrude Käsebier, Frank Eugene, F. Holland Day, and later Alvin Langdon Coburn.

 Mending Nets by Alfred Stieglitz. Carbon print, 1894 via

 

 “A Study” by Gertrude Käsebier. Platinum print, ca. 1898 via

By Clarence H. White, 1871 via

Actress Minnie Maddern Fiske by Fred Holland Day, created ca. 1895-1912 via

The Brass Bowl by Edward Steichen. Photogravure on tissue-thin Japan paper. Literature: Camera Work 14, 1906 via

Minuet by Frank Eugene, Photogravure on tissue-thin Japan paper. Literature: Camera Work 30, 1910 via

 The Bubble by Alvin Langdon Coburn. Gum bichromate over platinum print, 1908 via 

Edward Steichen, Foxgloves, France (1926)

Edward Steichen, Foxgloves, France, 1926 via

France, Turn of the Century, by The Seeberger Brothers

By Fréres Seeberger (Jules, Louis et Henri) via

By Fréres Seeberger (Jules, Louis et Henri) via

By Fréres Seeberger (Jules, Louis et Henri) via

By Fréres Seeberger (Jules, Louis et Henri) via

By Fréres Seeberger (Jules, Louis et Henri) via

Belle Epoque Beauty Geneviève Lantelme – Two Early Photographs by Reutlinger

Geneviève Lantelme (b. 1883) was a French stage actress, socialite, fashion icon and courtesan; she was considered by her contemporaries to be one of the most beautiful women of the Belle Epoque.

Geneviève Lantelme by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, 1900s via

Geneviève Lantelme by Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, 1900s via

Three Photos by Robert Demachy (1859–1936)

Robert Demachy (1859–1936) was the leading French Pictorial photographer of the late 19th and early 20th century. Pictorialism began in response to claims that a photograph was nothing more than a simple record of reality, and transformed into an international movement to advance the status of all photography as a true art form.

Demachy is best known for his intensely manipulated prints that display a distinct painterly quality. Demachy was particularly interested in nonstandard photographic processes and is noted especially for his revival of the gum bichromate process (invented in 1855 but little used until the 1890s), which allowed the introduction of color and brushwork into the photographic image (source).

He gave up taking photographs in early 1914, and never again touched a camera, even refusing to take snapshots of his grandchildren. No one was ever able to extract any reason from him for this sudden change, and it remains a mystery to this day.

Dans les coulisses by Robert Demachy, ca. 1897 via

Behind the Scenes of the Opera by Robert Demachy via

Behind the Scenes by Robert Demachy, 1906 via