Between 1860 and 1868, elite members of Victorian society regularly arrived to be photographed at the studio of Camille Silvy at 38 Porchester Terrace in Bayswater, London. Silvy’s twelve photographic daybooks, now owned by the National Portrait Gallery, form a record of this activity with almost 12,000 portraits contained within their pages.
Among Silvy’s aristocratic sitters were seven early women photographers, temporarily repositioned to become the subjects rather than the creators of photographs. These first generation photographic pioneers adopted new technology and a variety of chemical processes as an alternative expression of creativity to that offered by traditional art forms, such as oil or watercolour art. Instead of brush on canvas, landscapes or portraits could now be captured onto light sensitive paper by the action of the sun.
Rose Teanby shares her knowledge of early women photographers through a new blog on the National Portrait Gallery's website.
Read Rose Teanby's blog here: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/reframing-narratives-women-in-portraiture/female-focus-page/through-camille-silvys-lens
Image: Jane Frederica Harriot Mary (née Grimston), Countess of Caledon by Camille Silvy, 1860, NPG Ax50283 / National Portrait Gallery, London
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