{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1810666"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1810666/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PL1285/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PL1285/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PL1285","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PK9404","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PL1286","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ8991","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1810666","accessionNumber":"PH.570-2026","objectType":"photograph","titles":[{"title":"Self-portrait by Maria (Mia) Jackson","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Mia Jackson, sister of the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, seems to meet our gaze as she regards herself intently in a mirror. Although this is considered a self-portrait, Jackson would have needed assistance making the exposure. Cameras at that time were operated by simply lifting and replacing the lens cap. The blurry figure behind the sitter probably performed this task. This is an early example of a genre that attracted myriad later photographers and remains familiar in today’s selfies.","physicalDescription":"Black and white photograph on glass, depicting a woman looking directly at the camera through an arched mirror. The woman is positioned to the left with the reflection of the camera in the centre. The photograph is framed by a decorative oval border, contained in a wooden case, lined with brown paper.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Maria Jackson","id":"AUTH414346"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"wet collodion","id":"AAT133299"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Collodion positive on glass, commonly known as an ambrotype","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DOP","id":"THES291628"},"images":["2025PL1285","2025PK9404","2025PL1286","2025PJ8991"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"MB10","shelf":"SH41","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Photograph","id":"AAT46300"}],[{"text":"ambrotype","id":"AAT137324"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1858","earliest":"1858-01-01","latest":"1858-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchase funded by the V&A Americas Foundation through the generosity of Michael G. and C. Jane Wilson.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"9.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"7.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"0.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Maria (Mia) Jackson, self-portrait in mirror, collodion positive on glass, about 1858","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marta Weiss, 'Through the looking glass: a self-portrait by Mia Jackson, Julia Margaret Cameron's sister',<i> Burlington Magazine</i>, No. 168, pp. 993-95 (October 2026)"}],"production":"Maria Jackson (1818-1892) née Pattle was the sister of the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, and grandmother of writer Virginia Woolf and painter Vanessa Bell. The family spent much of their upbringing in Calcutta (Kolkata). The object was acquired alongside an ambrotype portrait of an unrecorded South Asian woman (PH.571-2026).","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["PH.570-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"570","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2025PL2044"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-10-02","recordCreationDate":"2025-10-06","availableToBook":false}}