at the met

Sargent

the new american wing

divinity

"It may amuse you, Mother, to try to photograph during your solitude at Freshwater."

 

There's something so quintessential

 about the photography of 

Julia Margaret Cameron.

Impossible to tire of it. Endlessly inspirational.

In New York this summer, was fortunate enough to see 

the real thing in an exhibit...was it at the Metropolitan? 

She has the most amazing history. It seems as though the entire Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite age, including each of the Bloomsbury aesthetes, exists within two degrees of separation from Cameron. 

My favorite thing, at this moment in time? 

She started taking pictures at the age of 48. 

(The title of this post is the quote that accompanied 

her first camera, a gift from her daughter.) 

Lots of folks, including "real" photographers and friends and her "victims" (as Tennyson called them), made light of her efforts. She continued, relentlessly. 

And just look where it got her.

Click here for another "Paul and Virginia." Wondrous.

"...where on earth is she going with that?"

If you've been following artbookschildren--or just got here--you might be wondering where on earth I'm going with all of this...I submit, herewith, a mission statement of sorts:

It's about how art and literature will be delivered to children in the future. Not the future tomorrow...for that, just take a glance at some of the varied, erudite, and exceedingly knowledgeable folks on the lower right, at blogs elsewhere. 

Read Roger, 7 Impossible Things, the Longstockings, + others...they'll all give you the best possible vantage point on children's literature today, methinks.

It's the day after tomorrow 

that I care about. 

In 5 years--

and 10 years, and 20--

how will children receive 

good art, great literature, 

thought-provoking ideas:

how can we, the grown-ups, provide it 

in the best possible way?

In 5 years--probably much sooner, actually--the world of

children's literature will be quite different: a bold new universe with exceedingly wonderful literary vehicles with which to reach the young. 

Let's reach them in the best possible way, shall we, with 

the best possible material? 

They are the future.

Let's do the best we can for them.