It 's that time of year again. On the third Thursday of May, I was booked to give my annual talk to Stamford Photographic Society.
What to talk about? How my students at Lincoln were gripped by Lomo fever? How digital technology and the Web are altering the style and subject-matter of photography forever? How digital photography has made it easier for us to explore old-time printing processes? Yes, all that and more.
I always try to incorporate historical references, so we also looked at the photographs of Lady Hawarden, taken between 1857 and 1864. Although the Victorian era seems increasingly remote, these images float out of physical time into a dream time not bound to any historical moment. Time as measured by clocks and calendars becomes irrelevant, fooled by the contents of the dressing-up box.
The images' charm is enhanced by the strange shapes made by scissors or decay, as they were originally pasted into albums. The pictures we have are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, who publish the best book on the subject, readily available though Amazon.
Virginia Dodier (1999) Clementina, Lady Hawarden: Studies from Life 1857 - 1864. London, V&A Publications.
Stamford Photographic Society meet on the third Thursday of the month in the drama studio at Stamford School.
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