Sharing my favorite images from the early days of photography… Title: Sir John Herschel Date: April 1867 Location: France Photographer: Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) Process: albumen silver print from glass negative Considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century, Julia Margaret Cameron started her career in photography in her late 40s. In only 12 years, she created hundreds of images, the most acclaimed of which include soft-focus portraits of respected men like Charles Darwin and Sir John Herschel. She is also known for her portraits of women and children, and her allegorical images of characters from mythology, Christianity and literature. English polymath Sir John (Frederick William) Herschel (1792–1871) was the most important scientist, astronomer and mathematician of Victorian England. Among his contributions, he named several moons of Saturn and Uranus, investigated color blindness, coined the term ‘photography’ in 1839, experimented with photographic processes, invented the cyanotype, and discovered the platinum process. Cameron and Herschel met in Capetown, South Africa, in 1836. The latter introduced her to photography a few years later. Source and information: The Metropolitan Museum of Art