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.

stereograph

date made
mid-late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.1372
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.1372

stereograph

date made
mid-late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.0879
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0879

stereograph

date made
mid-late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.2923
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.2923

Metzker Photograph with Abstract Composition

Silver print of an untitled Ray K. Metzker photograph with abstract composition.In the collection of the National Museum of American History there are twelve photographic works by the American photographer Ray K. Metzker (1931).
Description (Brief)
Silver print of an untitled Ray K. Metzker photograph with abstract composition.
Description
In the collection of the National Museum of American History there are twelve photographic works by the American photographer Ray K. Metzker (1931). These pieces by Metzker were acquired by the Smithsonian in 1970 after they were on display in the “Persistence of Vision” exhibition at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Metzker’s photographs range from depictions of urban street scenes to abstraction, and vary in size from 8x10 inch prints to 30x32 inch assembled pieces of over one hundred individual photographs.
After working as an assistant for various portrait and commercial photography studios, Metzker enrolled as a student at the Illinois Institute of Design in 1956. Founded by former Bauhaus instructor Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in 1937, the Illinois Institute of Design’s faculty included influential photographers such as Harry Callahan (see catalog numbers PG69.40.01-10), Aaron Siskind (see catalog numbers PG69.114.01-10), and Frederick Sommer. Metzker has often cited these instructors as having a great impact on his artistic outlook and passion for photography. In a 1983 conversation with curator Anne Tucker, Metzker said, “their experience and dedication is something you had to respect, and they communicated to me how really beautiful and of what great meaning a photograph or photography could be. They made photography a noble endeavor.” While at the Illinois Institute of Design, Metzker became fascinated with the urban environment of Chicago, which became the subject matter for most of his early photographs. After graduation, Metzker’s experimental methods were noticed by curators and included in exhibitions such as the “Persistence of Vision,” where he was included with fellow graduates such as photographer John Wood.
Metzker’s work utilizes the technical components of the medium of photography to create new and unique imagery. Instead of using the camera to create a traditional single frame photograph, Metzker has been known to use an entire roll of film to create one composite image. This is seen in his photograph Untitled Composite Print (Signs, Trucks, etc.), PG69.205.1. In this example, Metzker photographs a series of actions instead of a singular event. Metzker offers the viewer information about a specific location over a span of time while simultaneously abstracting the image by overlapping the individual film frames. Another demonstration of this time-based aspect of Metzker’s work is Untitled (Four Frames and a Film Strip) PG69.205.4, where various pedestrians are seen passing through the same environment throughout the day. Created in 1964, this photograph breaks the traditional rectangular format entirely with multiple frames printed on top of each other and the orientation of the print skewed to create a diagonal composition.
Metzker constantly tries to invent new ways to investigate the formal aspects of photography. This has led him to experiment with multiple camera formats and a variety of different printing methods. He has been known to spend extensive time in the darkroom, experimenting with processes that may never lead to a complete finished project. Even when Metzker depicts more conventional subject matter, such as a figure or cityscape, he eliminates information in the photograph to focus on light and shadow, line and form. An example of this is his 1963 photograph Untitled (Stripe on Pavement) PG69.205.2. Metzker photographs a segment of a city crosswalk, but through perspective and composition, creates an image that more closely resembles an abstract gestural mark than a typical city scene.
Metzker is an important figure to study in regards to evaluating the influence that Laszlo Moholy-Nagy’s Illinois Institute of Design had on the genre of American street photography in the 1960s. The Bauhaus tradition of experimentation can be seen throughout much of Metzker’s work. For Metzker, photography is a process that involves multiple steps before the final image is created.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
maker
Metzker, Ray K.
ID Number
PG.69.205.09
catalog number
69.205.9
accession number
288848

The Village Politician

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1896
maker
Fitz, Emma
ID Number
PG.77.92.25
catalog number
77.92.25
accession number
1978.2457

stereograph

date made
mid-late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.3126
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.3126

Richard Buhlig

Margrethe Mather plantinum/palladium print ca. 1922. Close up of American pianist Richard Buhlig's face.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Margrethe Mather plantinum/palladium print ca. 1922. Close up of American pianist Richard Buhlig's face.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1922
depicted
Buhlig, Richard
maker
Mather, Margrethe
ID Number
PG.003623
accession number
69546
catalog number
3623

Photographic Times Commemorative Medal

This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in 1889.The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in 1889.The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals. The medal has a hole so it could be worn.
Obverse: Bust of Louis Daguerre facing left. The legend reads: PRESENTED BY/ 1839-1889/ THE PHOTOGRAPHIC TIMES
Reverse: The legend reads: SOUVENIR OF THE SEMICENTENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY/ AUGUST 1889
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1610
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1610

Damaged Child, Shacktown, Elm Grove, Oklahoma

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1936
maker
Lange, Dorothea
ID Number
PG.71.64.06
accession number
2003.0160

White Angel Bread Line, San Fancisco

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1932
maker
Lange, Dorothea
ID Number
PG.71.64.03
accession number
2003.0160

JH Dallmeyer Lens

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Dallmeyer, John Henry
ID Number
2017.0141.0001
accession number
2017.0141
catalog number
2017.0141.0001

Allen Ginsberg, Poet

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963-12-30
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.66.64.038B

Head Waters of Cayuga Lake

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2015.0035.0014
catalog number
2015.0035.0014
accession number
2015.0035

Couple seated in a chair

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2007.0211.38.320
accession number
2007.0211
catalog number
2007.0211.38.320

view of farm

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2015.0035.0007
catalog number
2015.0035.0007
accession number
2015.0035

Interior scene of vases and ceramics

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2015.0035.0009
catalog number
2015.0035.0009
accession number
2015.0035

Two men and a woman on rocks

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2007.0211.38.376
accession number
2007.0211
catalog number
2007.0211.38.376

American Scenery

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
unknown
ID Number
2006.0142.07
accession number
2006.0142
catalog number
2006.0142.07

Statue of warrior

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0203.0088
accession number
2012.0203
catalog number
2012.0203.0088

The Cottage Door

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Weller, F. G.
ID Number
2015.0035.0008
catalog number
2015.0035.0008
accession number
2015.0035

Picking oranges

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
publisher
Underwood & Underwood Illustration Studios
maker
Strohmeyer & Wyman
ID Number
2006.0142.21
accession number
2006.0142
catalog number
2006.0142.21

Kauterskills Falls, From below the Second Fall

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
E. & H. T. Anthony
ID Number
2015.0035.0002
accession number
2015.0035
catalog number
2015.0035.0002

A Turpentine Still

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Littleton View Co.
ID Number
2006.0142.13
accession number
2006.0142
catalog number
2006.0142.13

Man pulling woman on wheelbarrow

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1907
ID Number
1986.3048.0748
nonaccession number
1986.3048
catalog number
1986.3048.0748

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