An egg yolk surrounded by the egg white.

Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg.^[1] It forms around either fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized).

Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza).

Composition[link]

The egg white is about two-thirds of the total egg's weight out of its shell, with nearly 92% of that weight coming from water. The remaining weight of the egg white comes from protein, trace minerals, fatty material, vitamins, and glucose.^[2] A raw U.S. large egg white weighs 33 grams with 3.6 grams of protein, 0.24 grams of carbohydrate and 55 milligrams of sodium. It also contains about 17 kcalories^[3] and no cholesterol. It contains approximately 40 different proteins.^[4] Below is a list of the proteins found in egg whites by percentage, along with their natural functions.^[2][5]

• 54% Ovalbumin - Nourishment; blocks digestive enzymes^{[citation needed]}
• 12% Ovotransferrin - Binds iron^{[citation needed]}
• 11% Ovomucoid - Blocks digestive enzymes^{[citation needed]}
• 4% Ovoglobulin G2
• 4% Ovoglobulin G3
• 3.5% Ovomucin
• 3.4% Lysozyme
• 1.5% Ovoinhibitor
• 1% Ovoglycoprotein
• 0.8% Flavoprotein
• 0.5% Ovomacroglobulin
• 0.05% Avidin
• 0.05% Cystatin

(Total listed 95.8%)

Egg white foam[link]

Beaten egg whites

The physical stress of beating egg white can create a foam. There are two types of physical stress caused by the beating them with a whisk, the first being that the whisk drags the liquid through itself, creating a force that unfolds the protein molecules^{[citation needed]}. This process is called denaturation. The second stress comes from the mixing of air into the whites, which causes the proteins to come out of their natural state. These denatured proteins gather together where the air and water meet and create multiple bonds with the other unraveled proteins, and thus become a foam, holding the incorporated air in place. This is because the proteins consist of amino acids; some are hydrophilic (attracted to water) and some are hydrophobic (repelled by water). This process is called coagulation.^[6][7]

When beating egg whites, they are classified in three stages according to the peaks they form when the beater is lifted: soft, firm, and stiff peaks. Overbeaten eggs take on a dry appearance, and will eventually collapse. Egg whites will not beat up correctly if they are exposed to any form of fat, such as cooking oils or the fats contained in egg yolk.

Stabilizing egg white foam for culinary purposes[link]

Copper bowl[link]

Copper bowls have been used in France since the eighteenth century to stabilize egg foams. The copper in the bowl assists in creating a tighter bond in reactive sulfur items such as egg whites. The bond created is so tight that the sulfurs are prevented from reacting with any other material. A silver plated bowl will have the same result as the copper bowl as will a pinch of powdered copper supplement from a health store used in a glass bowl. Drawbacks of the copper bowl include the expense of the bowl itself, as well as the fact that the bowls are difficult to keep clean. Copper contamination from the bowl is minimal, as a cup of foam will contain a tenth of one's daily normal intake level.^[8]

Adding an acid[link]

Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) is an acidic salt that can be used to change the pH of the egg white to an acidic range. This has the effect of stabilizing the foam, and is therefore an alternative to using a copper bowl. About 1/8 teaspoon or 0.5 g of cream of tartar should be used per one egg white to create this effect. One-half teaspoon (2 ml) of lemon juice can also be used to create the same results.^[9]

Health issues[link]

Although egg whites are prized as a source of low-fat, high-protein nutrition, a small number of people cannot eat them. Egg allergy is more common among infants than adults, and most children will outgrow it by the age of five.^[10] Allergic reactions against egg white are more common than reactions against egg yolks.^[11] In addition to true allergic reactions, some people experience a food intolerance to egg whites.^[11]

Eggs are susceptible to Salmonella contamination. Thorough cooking eliminates the direct threat (i.e. cooked egg whites that are solid and not runny), but the threat of cross-contamination remains if people handle contaminated eggs and then touch other foods or items in the kitchen, thus spreading the bacteria.

In August 2010, the FDA ordered the recall of 380 million eggs because of possible Salmonella contamination. The Los Angeles Times reported, "With 380 million eggs under recall, consumers may be anxious about eating any egg or food product containing eggs. Here's the upshot: Thoroughly cooked eggs are safe, but cross-contamination could be a problem."^[12]

Uses[link]

Egg white is a fining agent that can be used in the clarification and stabilization of wine.

See also[link]

• Albumen print
• Haugh unit, a unit of measure for egg albumen

References[link]

Works cited[link]

• Elmhurst College, Denaturation Protein
• Exploratorium, Anatomy of an Egg
• Gilbertus. Compendium Medicine Gilberti Anglici Tam Morborum Universalium Quam Particularium Nondum Medicis Sed & Cyrurgicis Utilissimum. Lugduni: Impressum per Jacobum Sacconum, expensis Vincentii de Portonariis, 1510.
• Good Eats, Let Them Eat Foam. DVD. Television Food Network, June 13, 2001.
• McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004, edited by Vinay.

External links[link]

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Eggs

• How to make albumen photographic paper
• The Wiktionary entry for albumen
• The Wiktionary entry for glair

Julia Margaret Cameron
Julia Margaret Cameron, photographed by her brother-in-law Charles Somers Somers-Cocks, 3rd Earl Somers, c. 1860
Birth name	Julia Margaret Pattle
Born	(1815-06-11)11 June 1815 Calcutta, British India
Died	26 January 1879(1879-01-26) (aged 63) Kalutara, British Ceylon
Nationality	British
Field	Photography

For the American author, see Julia Cameron.

Julia Margaret Cameron (11 June 1815 – 26 January 1879) was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.

Cameron's photographic career was short, spanning eleven years of her life (1864–1875). She took up photography at the relatively late age of 48, when she was given a camera as a present.^[1] Although her style was not widely appreciated in her own day, her work has had an impact on modern photographers, especially her closely cropped portraits. Her house, Dimbola Lodge, on the Isle of Wight is open to the public.

Early life[link]

Julia Margaret Cameron was born Julia Margaret Pattle in Calcutta, India, to James Pattle, a British official of the East India Company, and Adeline de l'Etang,^[2] a daughter of French aristocrats. Julia was from a family of celebrated beauties, and was considered an ugly duckling among her sisters. As her great-niece Virginia Woolf wrote in the 1926 introduction to the Hogarth Press collection of Cameron's photographs, "In the trio [of sisters] where...[one] was Beauty; and [one] Dash; Mrs. Cameron was undoubtedly Talent".^[3]

An 1864 photo by Julia Margaret Cameron of her husband, Charles Hay Cameron (1795-1881).

Henry Thoby Prinsep of London. Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1866

Marriage[link]

Cameron was educated in France, but returned to India, and in 1838 married Charles Hay Cameron, a jurist and member of the Law Commission stationed in Calcutta, who was twenty years her senior. In 1848, Charles Hay Cameron retired, and the family moved to London, England. Cameron's sister, Sarah Prinsep, had been living in London and hosted a salon at Little Holland House, the dower house of Holland House in Kensington, where famous artists and writers regularly visited. In 1860, Cameron visited the estate of poet Alfred Lord Tennyson on the Isle of Wight. Julia was taken with the location, and the Cameron family purchased a property on the island soon after. They called it Dimbola Lodge after the family's Ceylon estate.

Photography[link]

In 1863, when Cameron was 48 years old, her daughter gave her a camera as a present, thereby starting her career as a photographer. Within a year, Cameron became a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland. In her photography, Cameron strove to capture beauty. She wrote, "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied."^[4]

"Annie, my first success", 29 January 1864. Cameron's first print she was satisfied with

The basic techniques of soft-focus "fancy portraits", which she later developed, were taught to her by David Wilkie Wynfield. She later wrote that "to my feeling about his beautiful photography I owed all my attempts and indeed consequently all my success".^[5]

Alfred Lord Tennyson, her neighbour on the Isle of Wight, often brought friends to see the photographer.

Cameron was sometimes obsessive about her new occupation, with subjects sitting for countless exposures in the blinding light as she laboriously coated, exposed, and processed each wet plate. The results were, in fact, unconventional in their intimacy and their particular visual habit of created blur through both long exposures, where the subject moved and by leaving the lens intentionally out of focus. This led some of her contemporaries to complain and even ridicule the work, but her friends and family were supportive, and she was one of the most prolific and advanced of amateurs in her time. Her enthusiasm for her craft meant that her children and others sometimes tired of her endless photographing, but it also means that we are left with some of the best of records of her children and of the many notable figures of the time who visited her.

During her career, Cameron registered each of her photographs with the copyright office and kept detailed records. Her shrewd business sense is one reason that so many of her works survive today. Another reason that many of Cameron's portraits are significant is because they are often the only existing photograph of historical figures. Many paintings and drawings exist, but, at the time, photography was still a new and challenging medium for someone outside a typical portrait studio.

The bulk of Cameron's photographs fit into two categories – closely framed portraits and illustrative allegories based on religious and literary works. In the allegorical works in particular, her artistic influence was clearly Pre-Raphaelite, with far-away looks and limp poses and soft lighting.^{[citation needed]}

Portraits[link]

Ellen Terry photographed in 1864 by Julia Margaret Cameron

Cameron's sister ran the artistic scene at Little Holland House, which gave her many famous subjects for her portraits. Some of her famous subjects include: Charles Darwin, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, John Everett Millais, William Michael Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Ellen Terry and George Frederic Watts. Most of these distinctive portraits are cropped closely around the subject's face and are in soft focus. Cameron was often friends with these Victorian celebrities, and tried to capture their personalities in her photos. Among Cameron's lesser-known images are those she took of Mary Emily ('May') Prinsep, wife of Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, the elder son of Alfred Tennyson and a British colonial administrator. Cameron's portraits of May Prinsep, taken on the Isle of Wight, show a somewhat plain woman shot head-on and without affect.^[6]

Photographic illustrations[link]

Cameron's posed photographic illustrations represent the other half of her work. In these illustrations, she frequently photographed historical scenes or literary works, which often took the quality of oil paintings. However, she made no attempt in hiding the backgrounds. Cameron's friendship with Tennyson led to him asking her to photograph illustrations for his Idylls of the King. These photographs are designed to look like oil paintings from the same time period, including rich details like historical costumes and intricate draperies. Today, these posed works are sometimes dismissed by art critics. Nevertheless, Cameron saw these photographs as art, just like the oil paintings they imitated.

Julia Margaret Cameron in 1870, as photographed by Henry Herschel Hay Cameron.

Later life[link]

In 1875, the Camerons moved back to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Julia continued to practice photography but complained in letters about the difficulties of getting chemicals and pure water to develop and print photographs. Also, in India, she did not have access to Little Holland House's artistic community. She also did not have a market to distribute her photographs as she had in England. Because of this, Cameron took fewer pictures in India. These pictures were of posed Indian natives, paralleling the posed pictures that Cameron had taken of neighbours in England. Almost none of Cameron's work from India survives. Cameron caught a bad chill and died in Kalutara, Ceylon in 1879.

Legacy[link]

Cameron portrait of Julia Prinsep Jackson, later Julia Stephen, Cameron's niece, favourite subject, and mother of the author Virginia Woolf.

Cameron's niece Julia Prinsep Stephen (née Jackson; 1846–1895) wrote the biography of Cameron, which appeared in the first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography, 1886.^[7] Julia Stephen was the mother of Virginia Woolf, who wrote a comic portrayal of the "Freshwater circle" in her only play Freshwater. Woolf edited, with Roger Fry, a collection of Cameron's photographs.^[8]

However, it was not until 1948 that her photography became more widely known when Helmut Gernsheim wrote a book on her work.^[9] In 1977 Gernsheim noted that although a great photographer, Cameron had "left no mark" on the aesthetic history of Photography because her work was not appreciated by her contemporaries and thus not imitated.^[10] But this situation was evidently already changing by then thanks to his popularisation of her work, for instance in 1975 Imogen Cunningham had commented "I'd like to see portrait photography go right back to Julia Margaret Cameron. I don't think there's anyone better."^[10]

Further reading[link]

• Cameron, J. M. P. (1875). Illustrations by Julia Margaret Cameron of Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King and other poems.
• Cameron, J. M. P. (1889). Unfinished autobiography "Annals of my glass house" by Julia Margaret Cameron, written 1874, first published 1889.
• Cameron, J. M. P. (1973). Victorian photographs of famous men & fair women. Boston: D.R. Godine.
• Cameron, J. M. (1975). The Herschel album: an album of photographs. London (2 St Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE): National Portrait Gallery.
• Cameron, J. M., & Ford, C. (1975). The Cameron Collection: an album of photographs. Wokingham: Van Nostrand Reinhold for the National Portrait Gallery.
• Cameron, J. M. P., & Weaver, M. (1986). Whisper of the muse: the Overstone album & other photographs. Malibu: J. Paul Getty Museum.
• Cameron, J. M. P. (1994). For my best beloved sister, Mia: an album of photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron : an exhibition of works from the Hochberg-Mattis collection organized by the University of New Mexico Art Museum. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Art Museum.
• Wolf, Sylvia, et al. (1998). Julia Margaret Cameron's women. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago.
• Lukitsh, Joanne (2001). Julia Margaret Cameron. London: Phaidon.
• Cox, Julian, and Colin Ford (2003). Julia Margaret Cameron: the complete photographs. Los Angeles: Getty Publications.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Julia Margaret Cameron

• Julia Margaret Cameron Trust
• Julia Margaret Cameron at the Art Institute of Chicago
• The official National Media Museum print website containing many Julia Margaret Cameron prints
• George Eastman House photography collection - 163 selected images
• Julia Margaret Cameron exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
• Inventory of the Julia Margaret Cameron Family Papers, ca. 1777-1940, including full names of individuals, their identity, and nicknames used within the correspondence
• "Julia Margaret Cameron - Photographer in Focus". Photography. Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/features/photo_focus/cameron/index.html. Retrieved 2007-08-25. 
• Julia Margaret Cameron photography as part of 'Victorian Visions' (on loan from V&A Museum) at Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral. From December 2007 - March 2008.
• Julia Margaret Cameron Family Papers, 1777-1940. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California A collection of family correspondence and papers touching on the life of English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (active 1860s-1870s), though derived from the estate of her son, Hardinge Hay Cameron, around whom much of the materials revolve.