Her Mistakes . . .

. . . were Her Successes
 
We started our day in London at the Natural History Museum and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. This was very good indeed and much better, in my opinion, than last year’s. I think that was because there was greater emphasis on wildlife in their environments and on design in nature, so there were some dramatic landscapes – huge and more intimate. It also helped that this was a very quiet day and we had the freedom to wander round just as we pleased, with very few people to get in the way.
 
Lovely lunch with daughter #2 and then a bus back to South Kensington, where we went our separate ways. Gordon went to see an exhibition of photographs at the Royal Geographical Society, whilst I headed to the V&A and an exhibition of photographs of the nineteenth century photographer – Julia Margaret Cameron. This collection of powerful portraits was stunning. She broke rules – her photos were often intentionally out of focus, her processing often left smudges and scratches, but the beauty of her compositions shines through. I was not so much taken with her set pieces, but I loved ones such as this early (1864) portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
 

Mrs. Cameron was the first person who had the wit to see her mistakes were her successes, and henceforward to make her portraits systematically out of focus. (So, hope for us all then!)

A good day . . . and two books, a poster and a fridge magnet!. Home tomorrow.