The Female Gaze - Photography from Cameron to Miller
20 May 2026 at 10:00:00
Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip
Portrait of Julia Jackson by Cameron
From the earliest days of photography, women have used their cameras to challenge the boundaries of beauty.
This lecture begins with the portraits and idylls created by Julia Margaret Cameron and Clementina Hawarden. It then considers the images of protest made by Olive Edis and Christina Broom during the 'Votes for Women' campaigns. Finally we explore the career of Lee Miller, from her role as a fashion model, through her Surrealist work, to her uncompromising reportage as a War Correspondent.
Today's lecture will show us the birth of the Modern in art through a new and refreshing lens.
Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper is an art historian working on 19th and 20th Century British art. She was a curator and Research Fellow at the V&A Museum, and is currently Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of York. She has curated a major exhibition on John Ruskin and JMW Turner, and her new exhibition project "Beauty of the Earth: the Art of May, Jane and William Morris" is on at The Arc, Winchester from 15 November 2025 until 04 February 2026.
Suzanne is the author of 'To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters', 'Effie Gray' and 'Pre-Raphaelite Art in the V&A Museum'. She is a trustee of the Burne-Jones catalogue raisonné and has worked as a consultant for TV and film projects, including'The Invisible Woman' with Ralph Fiennes. She leads art history tours in England, France and Switzerland, and is an invited speaker for Cunard. Her latest book is 'How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris'.
Suzanne Fagence Cooper