Carroll’s child muse to feature in exhibition

AUTHOR LEWIS Carroll’s photographs of the girl who inspired Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland are going on display – together with images of his muse as an older woman.

Carroll’s images will be shown in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition Victorian Giants: The Birth Of Art Photography.

The Oxford academic and author of stories Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and its sequel Through The Looking Glass photographed Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church and his neighbour, as a young girl.

Many years later she was also photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron, whose work is featured in the show.

Writer Carroll’s fascination with Liddell, who died aged 82 in 1934, has been the subject of speculation, with some alleging he was a paedophile.

But Phillip Prodger, the show’s curator, said no claims of impropriety were ever made in the author’s lifetime. “Much has been written about the relationship between Carroll and Alice. We will never know exactly how Carroll himself felt about his subjects, and there is no doubt he developed deep personal attachments with many of his sitters,” he said. “Nevertheless, Carroll nearly always photographed his children with their parents present, and no claims of impropriety were ever made in his lifetime.” Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography runs from March 1 to May 20, 2018.