The Allen sisters of Deerfield, Massachusetts, were heavily influenced by the kind of art promoted by the pre-Rafaelite movement. Although the first pre-Rafaelites (begun in 1848) sought inspiration in a sort of over-realism, their followers soon began creating more fanciful paintings. These trends were taken up by photographers such as Lewis Carroll and Julia Margaret Cameron. The influence of Cameron, in particular, can be seen in the Allen’s work. Both Cameron and the Allens chose to photograph landscapes in a way that gave them an air of mystery and distance.