The Neopolitan 1864 - 1865

Julia Margaret Cameron made this portrait, "The Neopolitan", in the 19th century through the wet collodion process. This photographic technique, now historical, involved coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. Cameron wasn't interested in photography as a purely commercial or documentary medium. She was much more interested in the soft focus, dreamlike quality that could be achieved through careful manipulation of the process. You can see in this print that there are imperfections, streaks, and variations in tone; these are not flaws, but a record of the artist’s hand. She saw herself as an artist, not just a technician, and the fact that she embraced these qualities really sets her apart from other photographers of the time. Cameron elevated photography from a purely commercial pursuit to a fine art, creating images imbued with a sense of timeless beauty, while questioning the distinctions between art and craft.