AN EXHIBITION of close-up portraits of great men by Julia Margaret Cameron is to be shown on film in a first for Dimbola Museum and Galleries.

The exhibition is entitled Julia Margaret Cameron: Close Up and the photographs are taken from a book curated by her son, Henry Herschel Hay Cameron.

The film will be uploaded on Dimbola's Facebook page and available from Saturday (June 13).

During her lifetime the trailblazing photographer produced more than 900 images.

The range of her work was diverse from Pre-Raphaelite inspired tableaus to portraits.

In 1893, 14 years after her death, Henry published Tennyson and his Friends, which included several portraits taken by his mother.

The images were of leading Victorian stars including Tennyson, Herschel, Darwin, Browning and Carlyle.

In assembling her work, Henry shed light on the true power of Julia’s revolutionary close-up portrait, providing an insight into what makes a person exceptional.

The exhibition film has been made by acclaimed photographer Julian Winslow and presented by Gail Middleton, of Mrs Middleton's Books, Freshwater.

Gail said: "When I was first shown this extraordinary album it struck me that this was the perfect opportunity to bring a heartfelt curation of Julia's work to a wider public."

The exhibition will be shown alongside a rare volume of Tennyson and his Friends when Dimbola Museum and Galleries re-opens.

Both the film and exhibition were made possible by a grant from Natural Enterprise, Solent LEP and HM Government’s Local Growth Fund aimed at supporting the rural economy during these unprecedented times.