Cameron was born in 1815 and started to photograph in the 1860’s. She originally was given a camera as a present and then continued to use her gift and produce powerful portraits which later influenced other photographers. Cameron used a large format film camera, using glass negative plates. She was influenced majorly by the Romantics and Pre Raphaelites paintings which was clearly depicted in her photographs as she used her camera to capture historic and religious icons eg Darwin and reconstructing parts from the bible. She would have got her subjects to pose in specific ways making sure their facial expressions and body language are a specific way to almost appear like a character. The religious elements of her photographs were described as having a ‘pictorial effect’.Cameron being a pioneering portrait photographer had a massive influence on other photographers work like Tom Hunter who produced the life and death in Hackney collection. Cameron contributed to the history of photography as she influenced other artists to create artwork having religious elements.  Cameron also influenced John Everett and his photograph named Ophelia. Cameron was one of the first female photographers who saw photography as an art form and she received a lot of criticism from male contemporary artists.