László Moholy-Nagy (American, born Hungary, 1895–1946), Photogram, 1925. Gelatin silver print. George Eastman Museum, Purchase with funds from Eastman Kodak Company.
The world’s oldest photography museum and one of the oldest film archives, George Eastman Museum, presents a variety of world-class photography exhibitions by national and international artists and institutions, as well as rarely exhibited objects from its own collections, throughout 2025 and 2026.
Highlights of the upcoming season include:
Zig Jackson: The Journey of Rising Buffalo
On view now through November 9, 2025
Zig Jackson: The Journey of Rising Buffalo bridges the performative and observational practices of Zig Jackson, a photographer whose work is concerned with the everyday experience of Native American life and culture, with a focus on community, sovereignty, and respect for the land.
Peggy Ahwesh: The Night Sky
On view now through November 2, 2025
The Night Sky is a pair of experimental videos that evoke the sensation of being outside during the summertime, as the evening twilight fades into the darkness of night. Using time-lapse cinematography combined with long exposures, Ahwesh’s camera points skywards as illuminated terrestrial features emerge, shift, and recede against the vastness of space.
Building A Sustainable Future
On view now through November 9, 2025
Take a peek behind the scenes and explore the ways in which the museum works to balance preservation and access with implementing climate-aware and environmentally sustainable solutions. This object-based display highlights recent museum projects that attend to these concerns.
Selections from the Collection
On view now through May 3, 2026
In Selections from the Collection, a combination of new acquisitions, recent rediscoveries, and foundational objects offer insights into the history of photography. The objects on view incorporate photographic intersections with histories of art, culture, journalism, science, and technology. Throughout, common subject matter, compositional strategies, and themes demonstrate the interconnected visual languages of photography. These selections reflect the varied activities of the museum and its communities, drawing from a collection built, researched, and cared for by generations of colleagues and supporters over 75 years.
American, born Hungary: Kertész, Capa, and the Hungarian American Photographic Legacy
September 26, 2025-March 1, 2026
American, born Hungary: Kertész, Capa, and the Hungarian American Photographic Legacy examines the pioneering artistry that emerged out of backdrops of persecution and perseverance. The exhibition follows a remarkable number of émigrés and exiles from Hungary to Berlin and Paris, and then on to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where they reinvented themselves and American photography. This exhibition is the first full examination of their circuitous journeys to the United States—in the aftermaths of two world wars and Hungary’s student-led revolt in 1956—and the wondrous artistic legacy that developed along the way.
American, born Hungary is organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It was curated by Alex Nyerges, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Director and CEO, with Károly Kincses, founding director of the Hungarian Museum of Photography.
Erica Baum: the bite in the ribbon—a paper show
November 22, 2025-June 7, 2026
Through the selection, manipulation, and reproduction of existing printed materials, Erica Baum creates a poetry of word and image that inspires close looking and close reading. In the acclaimed artist’s first solo museum exhibition, several series will be juxtaposed, revealing the interrelated explorations of her practice. Early, ongoing projects and the artist's most recent turns will be featured in the bite in the ribbon—a paper show, with never-before-seen work throughout.
Edward Steichen and the Garden
March 27, 2026–September 6, 2026
Over a professional life spanning seven decades, Edward Steichen (1879–1973) established himself as one of the most important photographers in the history of the medium. What is less known is that for much of that time, Steichen devoted himself to the nurturing of plants and gardens, an activity that sustained him and through which he developed ardently held beliefs regarding the relationship of art, nature, and creativity. This exhibition celebrates Steichen’s story—one that foregrounds the curative power of gardens, the creativity fostered through cultivating plants, and the interconnectedness of humans, the earth, and all that grows here.
Curated by Sarah Anne McNear.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.
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Edward Steichen and the Garden
Building a Sustainable Future
