Artists: Julia Margaret Cameron

The generous, enthusiastic and energetic Cameron entered her artistic profession in middle age. Born in India and raised in France and England, the photographer died in Sri Lanka. The best on-line introduction to Cameron and her work can be found at the Wellesley College Library website:

For My Beloved Sister Mia
http://www.wellesley.edu/DavisMuseum/mia_album.htmld/index.html
This site contains a biography and on-line essays concerning different aspects of her work. Samples of her photography are also included.

Artists: Alfred Stieglitz

This famous photographer, who founded the Little Galleries of Photo-Secession in New York, is not only well known for his work with his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe. He is also widely credited for helping to elevate photography to an important art form.

Modernist Conversations: Photo-Secessionism
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~slatin/20c_poetry/projects/stieglitz2.html
The intellectual foundations and impact of this movement are described briefly here.

Art Issues: Censorship

Despite the right  to freedom of speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, censorship has a long history in the U.S. The controversy surrounding the Mapplethorpe exhibition is by no means the beginning of the struggle concerning art and freedom of expression. U.S. publishers had to defend their right to release many of modernity's most important authors, including James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence, because of accusations of indecency. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has come under constant attack in the past two decades for government funding of artists who address issues of sex, gender and religion in controversial ways. The advent of the Internet has unleashed new calls for moderation and control of material available on-line on the basis of its "decency." For more information concerning censorship issues, check out the websites listed below:

Freedom of Expression and the NEA
http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/intro.html
This website provides a well-balanced introduction to the challenges faced by the NEA as they relate to support for artistic freedom and public funding for the arts in general.

For more information on Robert Mapplethorpe, along with selections of his work on-line, check out:

Robert Mapplethorpe
http://www.ocaiw.com/mapple.htm
 

Artists: Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock leveraged his multiple talents in filmmaking (a relatively new business at the time), and went on to become one of the world's most respected directors. The following two websites are useful in learning more about him:

Hitchcock Online
http://www.qumulus.nl/hitchcock/
A beautifully designed website which contains a basic biography, information on his major movies and cameos, links to other sites, and even a Hitchcock FAQ.

The Definitive Hitchcock Links Page
http://www.interlog.com/~couke/hitchcock.html
For those interested in further on-line investigation, this website will prove indispensable. Includes links to sites devoted to specific films, as well as to a number of Hitchcock film poster sites.