Public domain
Portrait of Sir John Herschel
From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The reason why this portrait is out of focus is not because its maker was a 'mere' amateur unskilled in photography. Cameron deliberately adjusted her lens so that the image would not be sharp. In order to be 'art', a photograph should not merely copy reality as exactly as possible. Cameron is the most famous 19th-century photographer who used blurriness to achieve an artistic effect.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own descriptionCredit linePortrait of Sir John Herschel. 1867. Julia Margaret Cameron. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.
