1815  She is born in Calcutta, India, one of  10 children

1834  After she is educated in France, she
returns to the Cape of Good Hope in India

1838  She marries Charles Hay Cameron
Julia at her pianoCharles Cameron

1848  Charles retires,  He and Julia move to London where
              Julia becomes part of Kensington's artistic community,
including poet Henry Taylor, painter G. F. Watts,
and Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1863  Julia receives a gift of a camera from her
daughter, which sparks an enthusiasm for the
new art form.

1864 Julia is elected as a member of the
Photographic Society in London

1865  She begins using a large box camera with glass plate negatives

1873 She sends her invalid sister Maria, "Mia", and
her younger sister Virginia albums of her work.

1875 Marks the peak of her fame as a photographer.
She and Charles leave for Ceylon.

1879  Julia Margaret Cameron dies

Julia received her first camera as a gift from her daughter while Charles  was on a trip.
Julia was an extraordinary photographer for her time, particularly because photography had been discovered only a few decades earlier.  She was limited to using a large format camera and glass plate negatives, which required that her subjects sit still, however this was in no way a limitation to her ability to create beautiful representations of love, motherhood, childhood, as well as portraits.  Because photography was such a new medium, Julia had few examples for which to base her work on.  She was creative and unconventional.  Her photographs are a bit soft and because her subjects must sit still, they appear as if time really stood still for her.  Because of this, her photographs  are poetic and almost spiritual.

She created albums for friends, family, and those in power.  Her albums to her sisters were more of a family history, whereas albums for those in power were given to secure artistic support.  Family albums included a series of portraits of her niece, Julia Jackson.  She gave an album to Mia, her invalid sister, in 1873, and a few months later, she gave one to her sister Virginia.  The Mia Album and the Virginia Somers-Cocks Album both include works by other photographers as well.  Mia received her album mostly empty.  Over the following year, Julia labored at mastering the art of a large format camera.  Though it was difficult, she was compelled by photography.  Along with photographs, she sent Mia instructions for where to place them as well as inscriptions.

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