Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron : Portraits to Dream In

Novel exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman.

I know Cameron’s work quite well. She was an early photographer working in the 19th century. Woodman, from 100 years later, was new to me. The show compared the techniques and subjects of the two women exploring the idea that both conjure a dream state.

It was an interesting comparison but I found it a bit inconclusive. I would like to have known whether Woodman knew the work of the earlier photographer and if so whether she was consciously influenced by it. It felt a bit like a more modern artist was being used to make the earlier one approachable but I’m not sure that’s necessary with Cameron’s work.

It was an interesting way of discovering a photographer that was new to me but I found myself being drawn more to the familiar.

Closed 16 June 2024


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