Los 4028

Cameron, Julia Margaret
(1815-1879)Three King's Daughters Fair

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Three King's Daughters Fair (Mary Peacock, Emily Peacock, Annie Chinery Cameron). 1873. Albumen print. 33,2 x 27,8 cm (44,2 x 37,7 cm). Mounted to modern board.

Julia Margaret Cameron’s Three Kings’ Daughters Fair embodies her pioneering vision of elevating photography into the realm of fine art. Drawing inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Victorian poetry, and her close relationships with leading literary and artistic figures of her time, Cameron cultivated an aesthetic that was both intimate and transcendent. The title of this work originates from a ballad translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whose romantic medievalism profoundly shaped Cameron’s approach. The photograph’s dreamlike quality - soft focus, luminous faces, and floral symbolism - evokes an allegorical reverie oscillating between portraiture and poetic myth. The sitters - Mary and Emily Peacock, along with Cameron’s daughter-in-law, Annie Chinery Cameron - were part of her creative circle, often posing as literary and mythological figures in her staged compositions. Their presence in this image extends beyond mere likeness, rather symbolizing vessels of narrative and sentiment, in keeping with Cameron’s belief that photography should aspire to the expressive depth of painting and poetry. At a time when photographic sharpness was equated with technical prowess, Cameron defied convention by embracing soft focus as a means of artistic interpretation. Her ethereal, often melancholic compositions prefigured the Pictorialism movement, challenging rigid definitions of the medium, and establishing her legacy as one of the 19th century’s most innovative photographers. – Some light surface irregularities and fading along edges of print, otherwise a strong print in near excellent condition.

Lit.: Mike Weaver. Julia Margaret Cameron 1815-1879. Farnham 1984, ill. p. 72.
Amanda Hopkinson. Julia Margaret Cameron. London 1986, ill. p. 135.
Julian Cox and Colin Ford. Julia Margaret Cameron: The Complete Photographs. Los Angeles 2003, ill. p. 237.