Julia Prinsep Jackson circa 1856

The gift of the camera came to her in December 1863, at a moment when her husband was away, her sons were at boarding school, and her daughter had married and moved away. “From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardour... it has become to me as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigour.” wrote Cameron - forty-eight, a mother of six, deeply religious, well-read, eccentric friend of many of Victorian England’s greatest minds. “I began with no knowledge of the art... I did not know where to place my dark box, how to focus my sitter, and my first picture I effaced to my consternation by rubbing my hand over the filmy side of the glass.” Cameron had no interest in establishing a commercial studio. Instead, she enlisted friends, family, and servants, costuming them. Within eighteen months she had sold eighty prints to the Victoria and Albert Museum, established a studio in two of its rooms, and made arrangements with the West End printseller to publish and sell her photographs. In a dozen years of work, effectively ended by the Camerons’ departure for Ceylon's family plantations in 1875, she produced about 900 mesmerizing works, that remain among the most highly admired of Victorian photographs.

Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813–1875) was a pioneering Swedish photographer, best known for his innovative photographic techniques and his contributions to the development of early photography. Born in Sweden in 1813, Rejlander worked as a painter before turning to photography in the 1850s. He quickly gained a reputation for his innovative techniques, including the use of multiple negatives to create composite images and his ability to manipulate photographs to create dramatic effects. Rejlander's most famous work is 'Two Ways of Life' (1857), a composite image made from over thirty negatives, depicting a scene of debauchery contrasted with one of virtue. The image was widely reproduced and became one of the most popular and influential photographs of the Victorian era. Rejlander was also an accomplished portrait photographer, working with many of the notable figures of the day, including Charles Darwin and Queen Victoria. He continued to experiment with photographic techniques throughout his career and his work had a significant impact on the development of photography as an art form. Rejlander died in 1875, but his legacy lives on in his pioneering contributions to the field of photography.

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) is recognised as one of the most innovative writers of the 20th century. Perhaps best known as the author of Mrs Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927), she was also a prolific writer of essays, diaries, letters and biographies. Both in style and subject matter, Woolf’s work captures the fast-changing world in which she was working, from transformations in gender roles, sexuality and class to technologies such as cars, airplanes and cinema. Influenced by seminal writers and artists of the period such as Marcel Proust, Igor Stravinsky and the Post-Impressionists, Woolf’s work explores the key motifs of modernism, including the subconscious, time, perception, the city and the impact of war. Her ‘stream of consciousness’ technique enabled her to portray the interior lives of her characters and to depict the montage-like imprint of memory.

A poncho is a type of outer garment that is essentially a large piece of fabric with a hole in the centre for the head to pass through. It's often worn as a protective layer against the rain or as a warming garment. Ponchos can be made from different materials such as wool, fleece or waterproof fabrics, and come in different styles and designs. Traditional ponchos are associated with certain cultures, particularly in Latin America, where they have been worn for centuries.