Photography

The millions of photographs in the Museum's collections compose a vast mosaic of the nation's history. Photographs accompany most artifact collections. Thousands of images document engineering projects, for example, and more record the steel, petroleum, and railroad industries.

Some 150,000 images capture the history, art, and science of photography. Nineteenth-century photography, from its initial development by W. H. F. Talbot and Louis Daguerre, is especially well represented and includes cased images, paper photographs, and apparatus. Glass stereographs and news-service negatives by the Underwood & Underwood firm document life in America between the 1890s and the 1930s. The history of amateur photography and photojournalism are preserved here, along with the work of 20th-century masters such as Richard Avedon and Edward Weston. Thousands of cameras and other equipment represent the technical and business side of the field.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s
maker
Signal Corps' Army Pictorial Service and Army Communications Service
ID Number
2013.0327.0219
catalog number
2013.0327.0219
accession number
2013.0327
Press print; a man seated at a wooden bar, dressed in three-piece suit and tie, hands on bar, glass in front of him; other people around him in backgroundCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; a man seated at a wooden bar, dressed in three-piece suit and tie, hands on bar, glass in front of him; other people around him in background
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0578
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0578
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.089B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.087B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.086B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.088B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
1961-06
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.092B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.091B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946-1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.085B
accession number
264003
catalog number
66.64
Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Civilian Defense, 1942. The photograph was printed by Edward's son Cole Weston from his father's original negative.Edward Weston was influential in the modern photography movement beginning in the 1930s.
Description (Brief)
Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Civilian Defense, 1942. The photograph was printed by Edward's son Cole Weston from his father's original negative.
Edward Weston was influential in the modern photography movement beginning in the 1930s. He is well known for photographing the natural surroundings of his home on the California coast. Weston created striking works of art, some abstract, some more traditional images. A leader in American photography of the 20th century, Weston's prints were first exhibited at the Smithsonian in 1947. Afterwards, he remained interested in the national photography collection. At times, Weston recommended photographers to curators for collecting opportunities, and eventually donated a selection of his work and several cameras to the Photographic History Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1942
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
maker - print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.11
catalog number
69.137.11
accession number
288850
Press print; group of people sitting in sun on a bench in front of a large stone building under tree just starting to bud.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; group of people sitting in sun on a bench in front of a large stone building under tree just starting to bud.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0580
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0580
Soon after the end of World War II, President Harry S.
Description
Soon after the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman issued a directive to Army and Navy officials that joint testing of nuclear weapons would be necessary "to determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships."
Bikini Island was chosen to be the new nuclear proving ground for the U.S. government because of its location away from regular air and sea routes. In order for testing to get underway, the natives were removed from the island. Mydans was sent to the island to document the exodus of the people of Bikini. The story was published by LIFE (Mar 25, 1946).
Bikini's population numbered only 160 people from 11 families before it was evacuated. It was governed by a paramount chief (whom U.S. sailors began calling "king") and alaps or family heads. In this picture, Chief Juda sits with his family. Clothes were optional for children but adults were taught by missionaries to wear them despite the hot weather.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1946
photographer
Mydans, Carl
ID Number
2005.0228.096
accession number
2005.0228
catalog number
2005.0228.096
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0638
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0638
Press print; three German men sitting on bench in sun, in front of a home; someone is standing in window behind themCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; three German men sitting on bench in sun, in front of a home; someone is standing in window behind them
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0597
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0597
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1944-1945
ID Number
2013.0327.1158
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1158
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
maker
Fitzgerald, Jr., J. O.
ID Number
PG.004389C
catalog number
4389C
accession number
171949
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1949-06
ID Number
2013.0327.1179
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1179
Black and white photograph of an Atomic bomb explosion by Harlold Edgerton. Using his Rapatronic Camera, Edgerton positioned himself over seven miles from the bomb release site and was able to photograph the initial stages of the bomb at one ten-millionth of a second.
Description
Black and white photograph of an Atomic bomb explosion by Harlold Edgerton. Using his Rapatronic Camera, Edgerton positioned himself over seven miles from the bomb release site and was able to photograph the initial stages of the bomb at one ten-millionth of a second.
date made
1940s
maker
Edgerton, H.
ID Number
PG.7034D
catalog number
7034D
maker number
7034F-N-92-16872
accession number
246413
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0610
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0610
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s
maker
Signal Corps' Army Pictorial Service and Army Communications Service
ID Number
2013.0327.0223
catalog number
2013.0327.0223
accession number
2013.0327
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0639
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0639
Black and white photograph of an Atomic bomb explosion by Harlold Edgerton. Using his Rapatronic Camera, Edgerton positioned himself over seven miles from the bomb release site and was able to photograph the initial stages of the bomb at one ten-millionth of a second.
Description
Black and white photograph of an Atomic bomb explosion by Harlold Edgerton. Using his Rapatronic Camera, Edgerton positioned himself over seven miles from the bomb release site and was able to photograph the initial stages of the bomb at one ten-millionth of a second.
date made
1940s
maker
Edgerton, H.
ID Number
PG.7034A
catalog number
7034A
maker number
7034F-N-92-16872
accession number
246413
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941
maker
Laughlin, Clarence John
ID Number
PG.006301
catalog number
6301
accession number
237938
After the conclusion of World War II, President Harry S.
Description
After the conclusion of World War II, President Harry S. Truman issued a directive to Army and Navy officials stating that joint testing of nuclear weapons would be necessary "to determine the effect of atomic bombs on American warships."
Bikini was chosen to be the new nuclear testing ground for the U.S. government because of its location away from regular air and sea routes. In order for the project to get underway, the natives needed to be relocated to a different island. Mydans was sent to the island to document the exodus of the people of Bikini to the nearby island of Rongerik in March of 1946. The story was published by LIFE (Mar 25, 1946).
Outrigger canoes, like the one pictured here, were the Island people's main mode of transportation. The calm waters eventually became the stage for atom bombs testing on target ships. Before the evacuation, U.S. sailors helped the natives paint canoes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1946
photographer
Mydans, Carl
ID Number
2005.0228.098
accession number
2005.0228
catalog number
2005.0228.098

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