A chance encounter with an inventor of photography led to JULIA MARGARET CAMERON (1815-1879) becoming a pioneering artistic photographer. Her work transformed photography from the straightforward, unimaginative copying of nature into a creative artform.

Born in Kolkata (Calcutta) with British, Bengali, and French ancestry, she was educated in France, married in India, worked in England, and died in Sri Lanka. For 15 years, she lived next door to her friend, the poet Tennyson, on the Isle of Wight, where she created most of her vast photographic oeuvre.

This book, illustrated with images and maps, describes Julia’s life; her remarkable family; her circle of eminent Victorian friends and acquaintances; her travels; and the nature of her photographic output. Adam Yamey has followed in her footsteps in London, the Isle of Wight, Kolkata, and places in Sri Lanka, and presents her intriguing life and milieu from an exciting new perspective.