Lady of Light
Clementina, Lady Hawarden, was among the first female photographers and forged her own genre to light the way for fashion and fine art.
In the mid-1800s, becoming a photographer was like joining a cult. These new alchemists shared their arcane knowledge and put each other in touch with suppliers of strange and dangerous chemicals. Joining the cult and acquiring one of the little magic boxes wasn’t cheap either. So, early photographers tended to be aristocrats who were acquainted. In Britain, the circle was small and out of it grew the Royal Photographic Society, founded in 1853, which unlike many clubs of the day, welcomed both men and women. If they had the kit and the knowledge to use it, they just had to bring their passion and a subscription fee!
Among those pioneering female photography enthusiasts was Clementina, Lady Hawarden, who swiftly rose to short-lived prominence in the mid-nineteenth-century. She was invited to join the Royal Photographic Society and consecutively won two of their medals in 1863 and 1864. After her career was cut short by an early death in 1865, her work faded into obscurity. A century later, it was rediscovered and became a significant influence upon fashion photography in the 1960s and '70s..
