Exhibition, National Gallery London, until 16th June 2024
Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In

Header image: Portraits To Dream In © David Parry / National Portrait Gallery

Celebrating the portraiture of Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron, two of the most distinguished women photographers in history, The National Portrait Gallery is currently housing this exhibition of their works. It provides a fascinating comparison between the time and environment both were working in (Cameron in the UK and Sri Lanka from the 1860s, Woodman in America and Italy from the 1970s), whilst highlighting the ways they used photography to capture a mood as well as a moment in time.

Left: The Dream (Mary Hillier) by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1869 – Wilson Centre for Photography
Right: These People Live In That Door, 1976-77 – courtesy Woodman Family Foundation © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London

Excerpt from the press release:

‘The National Portrait Gallery will display a major retrospective exhibition of work by two of the most significant photographers in the history of the medium – Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) and Francesca Woodman (1958-1981). Bringing their work together for the first time in an exhibition of this scale, it will showcase more than 160 rare vintage prints from galleries. museums and private collections, including 96 works by Woodman and 71 by Cameron, spanning the entire careers of both photographers – who worked 100 years apart.

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In will offer a new way to consider these two artists, by moving away from the biographical emphasis that has often been the focus of how their work is understood. The exhibition challenges this approach in its insistence on experiencing the physical print, taking the picture making of Woodman and Cameron as a starting point for consideration of their work. While neither artist aimed for technical perfection in their printing, for each it was a dynamic and essential aspect of their creative process used to explore and extend the possibilities of photographic image making’.

Portraits To Dream In © David Parry / National Portrait Gallery

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In runs until 16th June 2024.

All images and exhibition details are reproduced with permission from The National Portrait Gallery and are copyrighted as listed. You can find further details including opening times, ticket prices and concessions on their website.

The National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE (entrances are located on St Martin’s Place and Charing Cross Road).

Intro by Siobhan

Published 6th May 2024