Photography

Leica 35mm Camera

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.

Place: California

Shew Daguerreotype Panorama

This individual scene from a daguerreotype panorama consisting of five whole-plate sections by photographer William Shew shows ships in the San Francisco, California harbor from Rincon Point, circa 1852.
Description
This individual scene from a daguerreotype panorama consisting of five whole-plate sections by photographer William Shew shows ships in the San Francisco, California harbor from Rincon Point, circa 1852. These ships were abandoned by sailors for the gold rush, and are in various stages of decay.
date made
ca 1852
maker
Shew, William
ID Number
PG.000159
accession number
22955
catalog number
159

Dancers during "The Freek Out" show, Los Angeles, CA, 1965

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.029
catalog number
1998.0139.029
accession number
1998.0139

Dinosaur for art's sake

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2000-10-24
maker
Kennerly, David Hume
ID Number
2003.0005.038
accession number
2003.0005
catalog number
2003.0005.038

Tenaya Lake

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Garrod, Richard
ID Number
PG.69.75.11
accession number
288842
catalog number
69.75.11

Michael Bowen, Tom Law, Ron Thelin, and Lee Myershof at the Artist Liberation Front Meeting. San Francisco, CA, 1967.

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.057
catalog number
1998.0139.057
accession number
1998.0139

6:30AM, Malibu 11/11/03

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003-11-11
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2017.0338.0011.08
accession number
2017.0338
catalog number
2017.0338.0011.08

Old Plank Road Crossing Sand Dunes Route 80 Imperial County, Calif.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1907
ID Number
1986.3048.1635
nonaccession number
1986.3048
catalog number
1986.3048.1635

Street Couple

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009-11-13
maker
Kunin, Claudia
ID Number
2010.0034.01.12
catalog number
2010.0034.01.12
accession number
2010.0034

The Beatles from Livermore, California

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.24
catalog number
2013.0222.24
accession number
2013.0222

Spring

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Spring, 1943. 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 Spring, 1943. 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
1943
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
maker - print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.10
catalog number
69.137.10
accession number
288850

Whistler

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009-11-13
maker
Kunin, Claudia
ID Number
2010.0034.01.13
catalog number
2010.0034.01.13
accession number
2010.0034

Ramiel in his Attic

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.
Description (Brief)
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
1920
maker
Weston, Edward
ID Number
PG.003611
accession number
69551
catalog number
3611

Nixon, Ford and Death

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1976
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.28
catalog number
2013.0222.28
accession number
2013.0222

"Migrant Mother," by Dorothea Lange

During the Great Depression, government photographer Dorothea Lange took this picture at a migrant farmworkers' camp near Nipomo, California. Lange's brief caption recorded her impressions of the family's plight: "Destitute pea pickers ...
Description
During the Great Depression, government photographer Dorothea Lange took this picture at a migrant farmworkers' camp near Nipomo, California. Lange's brief caption recorded her impressions of the family's plight: "Destitute pea pickers ... a 32-year-old mother of seven children."
First published in a San Francisco newspaper, this poignant image became one of the most famous photographs of the Depression era, emblematic of the hardships suffered by poor migrant families. The "migrant mother," anonymous for many years, was later identified as Oklahoma native Florence Thompson.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936
maker
Lange, Dorothea
ID Number
1983.0069.07
accession number
1983.0069
catalog number
83.69.7

Sandra Day O'Connor

Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Sandra Day O'Connor from his "Portraits without People" series. Center image is the sign for the Lazy B Ranch.
Description
Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Sandra Day O'Connor from his "Portraits without People" series. Center image is the sign for the Lazy B Ranch. Elements include interior of Supreme Court building, Justice's robe with lace collar, blue door with windows from ranch, "B"branding iron, overlaid image of the exterior of the Supreme Court building, pillow with the quote "Maybe in error , but never in doubt.", and an overall background of an arid Southwestern landscape. "RW" blindstamp, "AP" and signed by photographer along bottom edge.
date made
2009
represented
O'Connor, Sandra Day
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2008.0179.03
catalog number
2008.0179.03
accession number
2008.0179

Frank Gehry

Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Frank Gehry from his "Portraits Without People" series.
Description
Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Frank Gehry from his "Portraits Without People" series. Elements of the composite image include a concert at the Disney Concert Hall, architectural books, a corrugated cardboard cahir, the exterior of the Guggenheim Bilbao museum, a hard hat with "Millenium Park" logo, a fish sculpture, a hockey jersey, and a photograph of a wall painted with a face and the words "Eco Fascist". "RW" blindstamp, "AP" and signed by photographer along bottom edge.
represented
Gehry, Frank
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2007.0170.03
accession number
2007.0170
catalog number
2007.0170.03

Bob Dylan, The Castle

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
maker
Law, Lisa Bachelis
ID Number
1998.0139.022
accession number
1998.0139
catalog number
1998.0139.22

Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix and the Stoned Hippie

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
depicted (sitter)
Hendrix, Jimi
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.20
catalog number
2013.0222.20
accession number
2013.0222

The Graduate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.44
catalog number
2013.0222.44
accession number
2013.0222

Self-Portrait on Geary St. San Francisco 1958

Silver gelatin, black and white, mounted. Photographer's self portrait in vertical mirror in store front. Dissembled lighting fixtures on ground. Strathmore blindstamp.
Description (Brief)
Silver gelatin, black and white, mounted. Photographer's self portrait in vertical mirror in store front. Dissembled lighting fixtures on ground. Strathmore blindstamp. Verso: Imogen Cunningham label, bottom center.
Description
The Imogen Cunningham collection consists of thirty gelatin silver photographs, mounted, with label, signed and dated by the photographer, and three platinum prints, mounted and labeled. The subjects in the thirty gelatin silver photographs range from plants to portraiture between 1925 and 1968. The three platinum prints were made in 1912 and are representative of Cunningham’s pictorialist style. They were acquired from the photographer in 1968.
The photographs were used in a Smithsonian exhibition titled, “Women, Cameras, and Images I,” November 30, 1968-May 30, 1969, in the Hall of Photography, Museum of History and Technology. The exhibition also included thirty additional photographs lent by Imogen Cunningham, and five lent from the Library of Congress. The “Women, Cameras, and Images” exhibition was a series of five exhibitions featuring the work of female photographers: Cunningham, Betty Hahn, Gayle Smalley, Barbara Morgan, and Janine Niepce.
date made
1958
maker
Cunningham, Imogen
ID Number
PG.69.77.12
accession number
288841
catalog number
69.77.12

Sandstone Erosion

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Sandstone Erosion, 1945. 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 Sandstone Erosion, 1945. 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
1945
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
maker - print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.13
catalog number
69.137.13
accession number
288850

Point Lobos

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Point Lobos, 1948. 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 Point Lobos, 1948. 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
1948
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
maker - print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.14
catalog number
69.137.14
accession number
288850

Mikhial Barishnikov

Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Mikhial Barishnikov from his "Portraits without People" series. Central figure is photograph of Mikhial Barishnikov's feet while dancing.
Description
Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Mikhial Barishnikov from his "Portraits without People" series. Central figure is photograph of Mikhial Barishnikov's feet while dancing. Other elements of the composite image include photos of dancers at his school, sheet music showing score and lyrics, Japanese art, and a photograph of Richard Avedon photographing Barishnikov. "RW" blindstamp, "AP" and signed by photographer along bottom edge.
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2007.0170.06
accession number
2007.0170
catalog number
2007.0170.06

Susan Grinel, Diggers Emmet Grogan, and Harvey Komspan with Richard Brautigan and Gene Grimm (very front) at Artist Liberation Front Meeting. San Francisco, 1967.

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.058
catalog number
1998.0139.058
accession number
1998.0139

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