At age 48, Julia Margaret Cameron received an unusual gift from her daughter: a camera. It came with the following note: "This may amuse you, mother, in your solitude." Cameron soon transformed her coal house into a darkroom and her chicken shed into a studio. She solicited the assistance of two good

19th century photography, Composed, Dramatic, Dreamy, Elegant, Quirky

After his fiftieth birthday Eugene Atget limited his diet to milk, bread, and bits of sugar; he honed in on his hygiene and lived to perfect his art. Peculiar in his habits and devoted to the development of photography, Atget struggled unnoticed for most of his life. It wasn't until his death that hi

19th century photography, Demure, Gritty, Improvised, Moody, Subtle

In a well-appointed flat, a series of scenes unfolds around the circumference of a room: a man sits on a couch, head resting on his fist as if lost in troubled thoughts; across the room another man crouches over a dark wood chest -- is he doubled over in pain or merely inspecting the valuable antique

Documentary photography, Enigmatic, Erotic, Grand, Playful, Quirky, Young british artists, Young british/kitchen sink/free cinema

In one image, a drunken, disheveled man dips a jug into a bucket of home-brewed beer that sits next to his chair in a squalid living room. In another -- a close-up -- a woman eats a slice of pizza. She's obese, covered in tattoos, and wearing a weird assortment of shabby clothes; the pizza oozes from

Anxiety, Dark, Dystopic, Gritty, In-your-face, Young british artists