The photographs:
Idylls and Fancy Subjects
Julia Margaret CAMERON
British, 1815–79
The Princess, 1875
From Idylls of the King and Other Poems, volume II, plate V
albumen silver photograph
35.0 x 45.0 cm
The Wilson Centre for Photography
96:5406:06
In the second volume of Idylls of the King, Cameron took three images
illustrating scenes from The Princess, Tennyson's medley in blank verse that
was published in 1847. This is the first plate in the sequence (plate 5) and
shows the Princess and her attendants carrying books – symbols of knowledge.
Tennyson was interested in the idea of a women's university during the time
that he was writing The Princess. The other two plates from the poem show the
Princess without attendants, holding various musical instruments. In plate
six she is holding a lyre and in plate seven she holds a small mandolin.
Cameron has written the title and no other text on the mount of this print so
the exact poetic references are unclear. Technically, this group photograph
would have been very difficult for Cameron to achieve. With four figures in
the composition she would have been working at the critical focal threshold
of her camera lens. However, Cameron was never constrained by the technical
capabilities of her equipment – she pushed the medium in her desire to
capture artistic or emotional ideals.
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