Becoming: The Photographs of Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden

Clementina, Viscountess Hawarden (1822-1865) produced over eight hundred photographs during her all-too-brief life. Most of these were portraits of her adolescent daughters. By whisking away the furniture and bric-a-brac common in scenes of upper-class homes of the Victorian period, Lady Hawarden transformed the sitting room of her London residence into a photographic studio -- a private space for taking surprising photos of her daughters in fancy dress. In Carol Mayor's hands, these pictures become windows into Victorian culture, eroticism, mother-daughter relationships, and intimacy.