I've adored
Alice in Wonderland since childhood. My first exposure to it was the Disney movie at 10 or 11. As I grew older and my taste in literature and art expanded, I read the original print version by Lewis Carroll and eventually stumbled unto his photograph of Alice
Liddell, the real life inspiration for the main character of Wonderland and his other famous work,
Through the Looking Glass. For those of you who have never seen what she looks like, here it is [the photo was taken by Carroll]:
In college, I took a children's literature course and reread Alice for the second time. It solidified my fascination with the story. But, after learning the literary history around Wonderland, I became more intrigued by the author than the book itself. Lewis Carroll, whose real name is Charles
Lutwidge Dodgson, worked most of his life as a professor of
mathematics, even after
achieving fame with
Alice in Wonderland and
Through the Looking Glass. He also had a keen interest in
photography, which was still in its infancy during his adulthood - he was born in 1832 and died in 1898. Here are two more Carroll photographs:
As you can see, both photographs feature little girls. It was wasn't an accident that I picked these pictures. Carroll was rumored to be in love with Alice
Liddell, a girl 20 years younger than him. He was about 30 when he met her and she was 10 or 11. No one knows for certain if that is true. Nonetheless, many literary historians have hinted that Carroll was some kind of pedophile. Though he never 'acted' on his supposed love for Alice or any other child, according to historical records. What we do know is this: a ten year old girl was his muse, he loved to photograph children, he was a mathematical genius and he wrote one of the most beloved children's stories of all times. Carroll was as mysterious and labyrinthine as the stories he wrote, quite an unusual treat!
So in honor of Carroll and his lore, expect a couple more Alice in Wonderland posts coming your way in the following weeks.
