Lallie Charles

Lallie Charles
Self-portrait
Born Charlotte Elizabeth Martin
1869 (1869)
Died 1919 (aged 49–50)
Nationality British
Known for Photography


Lallie Charles Cowell (née Charlotte Elizabeth Martin) (1869-1919), along with her sister Rita Martin, was the most commercially successful women portraitists of the early 20th century.[1][2]

Biography

Lallie Charles was a society photographer. In 1896 she opened her first studio, called "The Nook", at 1 Titchfield Road, Regent's Park, London. In 1897 Rita Martin, her sister, went to work with her[3] In 1906 Martin opened her own studio at 27 Baker Street and the two sisters became competitors.[4]

Charles was inspired by Alice Hughes; other pioneer women photographers of her time, other than her sister, are: Christina Broom, Kate Pragnell and Lizzie Caswall Smith.[5] Mme Yevonde was an apprentice of Charles, and Cecil Beaton, as a young man, posed for a family portrait, an experience he later described in his book Photobiography.[6] Talking about the sisters, Beaton said: "Rita Martin and her sister, Lallie Charles, the rival photographer, posed their sitters in a soft conservatory-looking light, making all hair deliriously fashionable to be photo-lowered".[7]

Legacy

A small selection of negatives by Lallie Charles and Rita Martin are preserved at the National Portrait Gallery donated by their niece Lallie Charles Cowell in 1994.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Lallie Charles". The Hyman Collection. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ↑ Otto, Whitney (2013). Eight Girls Taking Pictures: A Novel. Simon and Schuster. p. 49. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Rideal, Liz (2002). Mirror, Mirror: Self-portraits by Women Artists. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 46. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  4. ↑ British photographers. 1944. p. 30. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Women Pioneers". The Hyman Collection. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Doy, Gen (2005). Picturing the Self: Changing Views of the Subject in Visual Culture. I.B.Tauris. p. 115. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Beaton, Cecil (1933). The Book Of Beauty. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
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