History of Photography
Waldemar F. C. Thode (American, b. Denmark, 1860s–1930s). Photo postcard (Katherine Jameson), ca. 1915. Gelatin silver print. George Eastman Museum, gift of 3M Corporation, ex-collection Louis Walton Sipley.
John Howe Kent (American, 1827–1910). Mary and Susan B. Anthony, ca. 1897. Matte collodion silver print. George Eastman Museum, gift of Merritt Mosher.
Spooner & Wells, Inc. (Detroit, Michigan and New York, New York). [Suffrage hike from New York City to Washington, D.C.], 1913. Gelatin silver print. George Eastman Museum, gift of George Lazarnick.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. [Wanted poster (Angela Davis)], 1970. Offset lithograph. George Eastman Museum, gift of Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, b. 1942). Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas, Juchitán, Mexico, 1979. Gelatin silver print, printed 1994. George Eastman Museum, purchase with funds from the Ford Motor Company Fund. © Graciela Iturbide
Larry Fink (American, b. 1941). Women's March Washington, D.C., January 2017. From the series Politics. Inkjet print. George Eastman Museum, gift of Steven and Claudia Schwartz. © Larry Fink
This selection of photographs commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment granted American women the right to vote (though many women continued to be prevented from exercising that right). This installation examines how photography has portrayed, and fundamentally shaped, perceptions of women and feminist movements since the mid-1800s.
The selection of works on view includes portraits of suffragist Susan B. Anthony and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, documents related to Civil Rights Era feminists Angela Davis and Gloria Steinem, and artworks by Julia Margaret Cameron and Carrie Mae Weems. Since its invention, photography has played an instrumental role in picturing women around the world as they fight for their basic human rights. A broad array of objects—from tintypes and card-mounted photographs to ID badges and images by celebrated photojournalists Margaret Bourke-White and Stephanie Sinclair—showcases the diversity of the George Eastman Museum’s photography collection.
This rotation in the History of Photography Gallery was curated by Lisa Hostetler, curator in charge, Department of Photography; Jamie M. Allen, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Associate Curator; and master’s students in the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management program Rebecca Gourevitch, Forrest Soper, Maya Swann Vitale, and Xiaochun Wang.
Virtual Tours & Activities
360 Tour
Explore the History of Photography gallery in 360, complete with all video, text, and full-size images.
Coloring Pages & Book Recommendations
Inspired by this exhibition, Jamie Allen, the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Associate Curator in the Department of Photography at the George Eastman Museum, shares some books and activities you can do at home to celebrate voting and the election.
Generous support for this 360 tour provided by Art Bridges.
This 360 tour has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: NEH CARES.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this tour, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Video Tours
The Photographic Preservation and Collections Management master’s students who helped curate this rotation were asked to give a virtual tour based on their research. Each student's tour includes a different selection of works on view in the History of Photography gallery.
About the History of Photography Gallery
The George Eastman Museum photography collection is among the best and most comprehensive in the world. With holdings that include objects ranging in date from the announcement of the medium’s invention in 1839 to the present day, the collection represents the full history of photography. Works by renowned masters of the medium exist side-by-side with vernacular and scientific photographs. The collection also includes all applications of the medium, from artistic pursuit to commercial enterprise and from amateur pastime to documentary record, as well as all types of photographic processes, from daguerreotypes to digital prints.
The museum's History of Photography Gallery is dedicated to rotating installations that demonstrate photography’s historical trajectory through photographs and cameras drawn from the collection. The selection of photographs changes twice a year, and each rotation offers new opportunities to engage with the museum's treasures.
For videos and a glossary of the photographic processes, visit eastman.org/processglossary.
Exhibition Details
Museum Hours
Museum Hours
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Thursday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Friday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Monday | Closed |