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

Pennsylvania Dutch Barn

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Pennsylvania Dutch Barn, 1941. 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 Pennsylvania Dutch Barn, 1941. 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
1941
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
maker - print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.08
catalog number
69.137.8
accession number
288850

Cabbage Leaf

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Cabbage Leaf, 1931. 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 Cabbage Leaf, 1931. 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
1931
maker - negative
Weston, Edward
ID Number
PG.69.137.02
catalog number
69.137.2
accession number
288850

Conning the Children

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.39
catalog number
2013.0222.39
accession number
2013.0222

Laura in the Field

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.29
catalog number
2013.0222.29
accession number
2013.0222

Point Lobos Tidepool

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Garrod, Richard
ID Number
PG.69.76.03

Yogi Bhajan at the East West cultural center, Los Angeles, CA. 1968. When we first discovered how to get high on the breath of fire.

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
1968
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.094
catalog number
1998.0139.094
accession number
1998.0139

Photographic History Collection: Will Connell

Will Connell (1898-1961) was an influential photographer, teacher, and author in Southern California known for his often-satirical “modern pictorialist” style, commercial photography work, and mentorship of a generation of photographers.
Description
Will Connell (1898-1961) was an influential photographer, teacher, and author in Southern California known for his often-satirical “modern pictorialist” style, commercial photography work, and mentorship of a generation of photographers. The National Museum of American History’s Photographic History collection received a donation of 11 prints of various subjects from Connell’s wife in 1963. This donation was followed by another, from Connell’s son, in 1977, comprised of the 49 prints published in In Pictures.
Connell was born in McPherson, Kansas, but moved to California soon after. As a young man in Los Angeles, Connell came into contact with the thriving California camera clubs of the 1910s and 1920s, and more importantly, the burgeoning Hollywood film industry. After a brief stint in the U.S. Army Signal Corps at the end of the first World War, Connell worked a variety of odd jobs while experimenting in amateur photography. Several motion picture studios hired Connell to photograph actors and actresses in the 1920s and 1930s, and he soon became a professional.
Connell’s glamour shots of stars such as Myrna Loy, as well as his growing body of art photography, reveal pictorialist influence, and his work was often exhibited at salons and exhibitions throughout the United States. In the 1930s, Connell began working as a photographer for magazines including the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Time, and Vogue, started teaching photography at Art Center College, and continued work at the Los Angeles studio he opened in 1925. Connell spent the rest of his life in Los Angeles, teaching, judging work, producing commercial work, and writing, notably, his "Counsel by Connell" column in US Camera, which he authored for 15 years.
His first book, In Pictures, was published in 1937. Now considered a classic work of satire, the book featured montaged, often surreal images that mocked the Hollywood studio system and a public enamored with the motion picture industry. The photographs were published alongside a fictional account of a meeting of Hollywood moguls, written by several of Connell’s friends in the business. While the images appear to be a marked departure from Connell’s earlier soft-focus pictorialism, the sharp, poignant photographs nevertheless retain that movement’s emphasis on composition and communication of a message. In Pictures also pays homage to the film industry where the photographer cut his teeth – many of the images feature close-ups, characteristic stage lighting, and influence of the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Connell, in his work and teaching until his death in 1961, is cited as an influence on an entire generation of photographers, including Dr. Dain Tasker (COLL.PHOTOS.000031). His 1949 book About Photography outlined an artistic philosophy that stressed a straight-forward, communicative style of photography and expressed the author’s belief that even the most commercial work can have artistic merit. A 1963 monograph in US Camera featured fond remembrances from friends Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange, among others, who praised Connell for his warm personality and unique work.
Related Collections:
Dain Tasker collection, Photographic History Collection, NMAH
Will Connell collection, California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside, California
Will Connell papers, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Art Center School Archives, Pasadena, California
date made
1920-1961
maker
Connell, Will
ID Number
COLL.PHOTOS.000020
accession number
1981.0549
2007.0088
catalog number
77.94.1-77.94.49
8077a, 8077b, 8077d-8077l

Mono Lake

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Garrod, Richard
ID Number
PG.69.76.06

San Francisco Peace March

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.37
catalog number
2013.0222.37
accession number
2013.0222

Coast, Cambria, CA

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Garrod, Richard
ID Number
PG.69.75.05
accession number
288842
catalog number
69.75.05

Chet Powers, AKA Dino Valenti, songwriter and friend, making their way through the crowd at the Monterey Pop. Monterey, 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
1998.0139.051
catalog number
1998.0139.051
accession number
1998.0139

No. 22 Los Angeles, CA, 1947

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
maker
Feininger, Andreas
ID Number
1990.0160.043
accession number
1990.0160
catalog number
1990.0160.043

Santa Fe Engine

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Santa Fe Engine, 1941. 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 Santa Fe Engine, 1941. 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
1941
maker-negative
Weston, Edward
maker-print
Weston, Cole
ID Number
PG.69.137.17
catalog number
69.137.17
accession number
288850

6:30AM, Malibu 04/06/03

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003-04-06
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2017.0338.0011.03
accession number
2017.0338
catalog number
2017.0338.0011.03

Self-portrait, Robert Weingarten

Bob Weingarten's Self-Portrait, a pigment print of a composite photograph. Central image is Weingarten's violin. Other elements include HP 120 Calculator, interior of studio, home library, exterior of Brooklyn home, and three of Weingarten's publications.
Description
Bob Weingarten's Self-Portrait, a pigment print of a composite photograph. Central image is Weingarten's violin. Other elements include HP 120 Calculator, interior of studio, home library, exterior of Brooklyn home, and three of Weingarten's publications. In pencil along bottom image edge are written "AP" and the photographer's signature.
depicted
Weingarten, Robert I.
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2007.0170.01
accession number
2007.0170
catalog number
2007.0170.01

Mind Games with Allen Ginsberg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1975
depicted (sitter)
Ginsberg, Allen
maker
Powers, Mark James
ID Number
2013.0222.41
catalog number
2013.0222.41
accession number
2013.0222

Alfred Hitchcock

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1957
depicted (sitter)
Hitchcock, Alfred
maker
Avery, Sid
ID Number
2002.0386.02
accession number
2002.0386
catalog number
2002.0386.02

Pine Cone and Eucalyptus Leaves

Silver gelatin, mounted. Close up of pine cone surrounded by eucalyptus leaves. Detailed. Can see indentations and marks on pine cone and leaves. Signed, ink (recto: bottom right).
Description (Brief)
Silver gelatin, mounted. Close up of pine cone surrounded by eucalyptus leaves. Detailed. Can see indentations and marks on pine cone and leaves. Signed, ink (recto: bottom right). Verso: Adams stamp, title handwritten, ink.
Description
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) is one of the most well-known twentieth century photographers. His contributions to the field of photography include his innovation and teaching of the Zone System. The quality of his photographs set the standard by which many straight photographs are judged.
The collection in the Photographic History Collection consists of twenty-five photographs, all printed in or about 1968. All are gelatin silver, mounted, labeled and signed in ink by the photographer. The photographs include some of his most well-known images, but also portraits and objects. The selection of images was made in collaboration between the collecting curator and Adams.
negative made
1934
print made
1968
maker
Adams, Ansel
ID Number
PG.69.117.19
catalog number
69.117.19
accession number
282104

Clouds over Tehachapi Mountains

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1951-01-05
maker
Garnett, William
ID Number
PG.69.211.05
accession number
301338
catalog number
69.211.5

Home where three people were slain

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974-06-29
ID Number
2013.0327.0855
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0855

Wall, Mendocino

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Garrod, Richard
ID Number
PG.69.75.13
accession number
288842
catalog number
69.75.13

Tractor Plowing, Arvin, CA

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1951-01-05
maker
Garnett, William
ID Number
PG.69.211.02
accession number
301338
catalog number
69.211.2

Buzz Aldrin

Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Buzz Aldrin from his "Portraits Without People" series.
Description
Pigment print of Bob Weingarten's portrait of Buzz Aldrin from his "Portraits Without People" series. Elements of the composite image include photographs of a lunar module, an American flag, a spacesuit mask, Neil Armstrong's first footprint on the moon, a propeller airplane, an arctic icebreaker, and two mugs. "RW" blindstamp, "AP" and signed by photographer along bottom edge.
represented
Aldrin, Buzz
maker
Weingarten, Robert I.
ID Number
2007.0170.02
accession number
2007.0170
catalog number
2007.0170.02

Oak Tree in Snow

Silver gelatin, mounted. Tall oak tree and several trees behind covered in snow and snow on ground. Each branch outlined by snow. Signed, ink (recto: bottom center). Verso: Adams stamp, title handwritten, ink center.
Description (Brief)
Silver gelatin, mounted. Tall oak tree and several trees behind covered in snow and snow on ground. Each branch outlined by snow. Signed, ink (recto: bottom center). Verso: Adams stamp, title handwritten, ink center. "RSN 82532R27" handwritten, pencil, bottom.
Description
Ansel Adams (1902-1984) is one of the most well-known twentieth century photographers. His contributions to the field of photography include his innovation and teaching of the Zone System. The quality of his photographs set the standard by which many straight photographs are judged.
The collection in the Photographic History Collection consists of twenty-five photographs, all printed in or about 1968. All are gelatin silver, mounted, labeled and signed in ink by the photographer. The photographs include some of his most well-known images, but also portraits and objects. The selection of images was made in collaboration between the collecting curator and Adams.
Location
Currently not on view
negative made
1940
print made
1968
maker
Adams, Ansel
ID Number
PG.69.117.15
catalog number
69.117.15
accession number
282104

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