[Ceylonese Group by a Tree]
![[Ceylonese Group by a Tree] by Julia Margaret Cameron](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.artheonmuseum.org%2Fmet%2Fph%2Fthumb%2Fceylonese-group-by-a-tree-260359.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
27 x 19.9 cm (10 5/8 x 7 13/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1972
Accession Number
1972.692
Tags
Art Historical Context
Julia Margaret Cameron created *Ceylonese Group by a Tree* in 1878, during her final years living in Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). A pioneering Victorian photographer, Cameron often turned her lens toward local inhabitants, capturing intimate group portraits that blended everyday life with a sense of quiet dignity. The composition, featuring men and women gathered beneath a tree, reflects her interest in recording the people and landscapes around her new home while continuing her signature approach to portraiture. The work is an albumen silver print made from a glass negative, a medium priz...
About the Artist
Julia Margaret Cameron · 1815–1879
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879), born Julia Margaret Pattle in Calcutta, India, emerged as one of the 19th century's most innovative photographers despite beginning her career at age 48. The daughter of East India Company official James Pattle and French aristocrat Adeline de l'Etang, she was educated in France from 1818 to 1834 alongside her six surviving sisters, renowned for their beauty and...