Photograph in half-length, head tilted upwards resting on his right hand, almost profile right. Left hand on book. He wears cap trimmed with feather.

Charles Clinton Parry (1840-83) was part of a highly artistic family, which included his brother Hubert, the composer best known today for the hymn Jerusalem. From an early age, Clinton displayed signs of instability. This later turned to alcoholism and mental illness, alienating him from his wife and four children. After time working in South Africa and New Zealand, he died, separated from his family, in Australia.

Text adapted from Roger Fenton – Julia Margaret Cameron: Early British photographs from the Royal Collection, London, 2010