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| The path between Dimbola Lodge and Freshwater Bay. |
I took this photograph yesterday afternoon from an upper room of Dimbola Lodge in the Isle of Wight. A lane and a path run parallel to one another between the house and the sea. That path, seen clearly in the centre of this photograph, was followed in the 1860s and 1870s by Charles Darwin, Thomas Carlyle, Lewis Carroll, the poets Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning, the actress Ellen Terry, the painters G F Watts and William Holman Hunt and the astronomer Sir John Herschel. Each would call on Julia Margaret Cameron at Dimbola Lodge and be given a cup of tea - and be taken round to the back of the lodge, to a shed, where Julia kept her camera and related equipment. Julia's photographs, mostly taken on albumin and therefore possessing the finest detail, represent a remarkable collection of Victorian 'celebrities'.
The story of Julia's life at Dimbola Lodge can be had by clicking
here.
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| Julia's photograph of Charles Darwin at Dimbola Lodge. |
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| Thomas Carlyle photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron. |
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| Alfred Lord Tennyson photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron. |
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| Ellen Terry at 16, photographed by Julia and later to become the greatest stage actress of the age | | |
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