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As flagged earlier this year on BPH the ground-breaking Victorian photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, has been commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque at her former London home in Belgravia. The plaque was unveiled on 12 May at 10 Chesham Place which was the first London residence of the woman who would go on to transform the art of photography. Born in Calcutta in 1815, Julia Margaret Cameron arrived in England in 1848, living at Chesham Place as she settled into London life after years in India. Although she did not take up photography until later, while living on the Isle of Wight, this early London home placed her at the heart of the capital’s cultural world and the social and intellectual networks that would come to shape her remarkable career. She died in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1879. 

Rebecca Preston, Historian at English Heritage, said: “This plaque marks the place in London where Julia Margaret Cameron cultivated the creativity and connections that would later inform her work and provide many of her subjects Though she did not take up photography until her 49th year, Cameron went on to become one of its most original and influential pioneers, redefining what a photographic portrait could be.”

Jules Cameron, DJ, actor and presenter and great-granddaughter of Julia Margaret Cameron, said: “Julia Margaret Cameron saw photography not simply as a record, but as a way of revealing the soul. To have her honoured with a blue plaque feels like a quiet continuation of her work fixing her presence once more in light and memory. She wasn’t interested in perfection, but in truth, in feeling, in humanity. A blue plaque feels entirely fitting for someone so gloriously unconventional, and I think she would have absolutely loved it.”

Cameron is best known for the striking photographs of leading figures in Victorian society including fellow blue plaque recipients Alfred Tennyson, Charles Darwin, Ellen Terry and Marie Spartali Stillman, as well as imaginative allegorical scenes featuring members of her family and household. Rejecting the sharp focus favoured by many contemporaries, she instead embraced soft focus and long exposure to capture what she described as the “inner life” of her subjects.

Though often criticised in her lifetime, Cameron’s work gained recognition from Sir Henry Cole who bought photographs from her for what is now the V&A Museum. She has since secured her reputation as one of the most important figures in the history of photography. The house at Chesham Place, her first London base, marks the beginning of a journey that would lead her to redefine the medium and influence generations of photographers

Other notable photographers commemorated by the scheme include John Thomson, Christina Broom, Lee Miller, Bill Brandt and Cecil Beaton. 

The English Heritage London Blue Plaques scheme is generously supported by David Pearl and members of the public.

Images: © Michael Pritchard.  (Top): Jules Cameron unveils the plaque at 10 Chesham Place. (right): the blue plaque; (left): collodion photographer Magda Kuca makes a collodion portrait of Jules and Antonia Cameron with Andrew Graham-Dixon looking on;  (below): Speakers at the event (l-r) Hannah Starkey, Dr Marta Weiss, Tim Walker, and Andrew Graham-Dixon. 

A Blue Plaque to William Constable is to be unveiled in Brighton on the 29 May 2026 at 57 Marine Parade. The unveiling is scheduled for 1130 and attendees are asked to gather for 1115. Following the unveiling those attending are encouraged to go for a fish and chip lunch in the restaurant on Brighton's Palace Pier.

William Constable (1783-1861) was the first person to open a photographic portrait studio in Brighton. A 58-year-old inventor who had previously worked as a flour miller and high street draper, he had recently been employed as a land and road surveyor. Constable's Photographic Institution opened on Monday, 8 November 1841 at 57 Marine Parade, a large four-storey building situated on Brighton’s eastern seafront, at the corner of Atlingworth Street. Holding an exclusive licence from Richard Beard, Constable had a virtual monopoly in the production of photographic portraits in Brighton between November 1841 and 1851. He closed his studio at number 57 in 1854. 

Read more about William Constable here: https://victorianedwardianphotographersinbrightonhove.uk/brighton-photographers-1841-1860/ and see: Philippe Garner, 'William Constable. Brighton's First Photography', History of Photography, 15(3), Autumn 1991, 236-240.

Image: A daguerreotype portrait of William Constable. Courtesy of Philippe Garner.

A blue plaque was unveiled by Perth Civic Trust at 62 Princes Street in Perth, Scotland to honour the local photographer, Magnus Jackson (1831-1891), at his former studio and shop, built in 1884. The plaque represents a growing recognition of Scotland’s rich contributions to the global history of photography. Magnus’s collection of 2,500 glass wet plate collodion negatives is cared for by Culture Perth and Kinross Museum and Art Galleries, representing the earliest collection of photographs that capture life in Victorian Perthshire. 

Magnus was born in Perth in 1831 to Thomas Jackson and Helen Miller, one of six children. His father’s business, established in 1826, at 70 George Street, operating as a picture-frame maker, looking-glass manufacturer, restorer of oil paintings and a print seller. Magnus was trained by his father as a carver and gilder, a trade he maintainened throughout his working life.

In the local newspaper of 1845, an article describes an engraving of his Grace, the Duke of Wellington from an Antoine Claudet daguerreotype being displayed in the window of his father’s shop. Antoine Claudet an early practitioner in photography excelled in producing daguerreotypes. It is possible that the picture on display inspired Magnus, aged fourteen at the time, to take up photography. He travelled to London in the early 1850s to be trained in the art of photography. He returned as a practiced photographer and a few years later in 1860 set up a modest wooden shed studio in Marshall Place.

Magnus Jackson’s first wooden shed studio in Marshall Place, Perth.

Magnus’s photographic subject matter was diverse, beyond the normal role of a studio photographer and included the earliest photographic records of Perth streets, buildings, people, and included events of fires, floods and the laying of foundation stones of major buildings. He also travelled widely around Perthshire capturing photographs of grand country houses and estates, shopkeepers, factories and workers.

Laying the foundation stone of Perth City Chambers 1878.

Animal photography was another source of income. Magnus submitted articles to The Photographic News and The British Journal of Photography in early 1881, titled Photography outside the studio. When referencing cattle photography, he notes his results. ‘My first attempt in this line was in the year 1856, and in two days I made somewhere about twenty fine, rich looking negatives’.

Shorthorn bull and handler

Magnus excelled in tree portraiture, and was awarded a silver medal at the
International Forestry Exhibition, Edinburgh in 1884. That year he also became the official photographer for the Scottish Arboricultural Society. In 1886, he was awarded the bronze medal and diploma of merit at the International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art in Edinburgh for fern and foxglove photographs.

Elm tree at Strathallan, Perthshire.

Magnus was actively involved in Perth’s public life and was a member of the
The Guildry Incorporation of Perth, Perthshire Society of Natural Science (PSNS), and The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He became a town councillor in 1878 and was appointed Perth’s Police Commissioner in 1885 overseeing the police department, fire services and street lighting. He also served as convenor of the local committees and the abattoir and was instrumental in the construction of Perth’s first public swimming baths.

The Guildry Incorporation at Craigmakerran House, 1864

Magnus Jackson, Photographer, Carver and Gilder and Perth Town Councillor died on 27 April 1891, aged 59. His business did continue for several years by his sons Thomas and Magnus Junior, then by Burrows Bros. When the photographic business finally closed in 1903 the contents of the studio were auctioned off, subsequently a selection of the glass plates were donated to the Sandeman Public Library in 1904.

Photographs Courtesy of Culture Perth & Kinross Museums & Galleries

https://collectionsearch.pkc.gov.uk/search.aspx