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.

Date: 1940s

Man tinkering by the window

Press print; an elderly man tinkering with an object; seated at a table by the windowCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; an elderly man tinkering with an object; seated at a table by the window
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0584
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0584

Lamplighter, Frankfurt

Press print; man standing on ladder lighting street lampsCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; man standing on ladder lighting street lamps
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0576
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0576

No. 18 Bench Flume, Idaho

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
maker
Feininger, Andreas
ID Number
1990.0160.040
accession number
1990.0160
catalog number
1990.0160.040

Art Directors Club of Cleveland, Honorable Mention

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1949
ID Number
PG.006264.B
accession number
238737
catalog number
6264B

Man in Bavarian Costume

Press print; man wearing traditional costume; pipe hanging out of mouth; fur cap on headCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; man wearing traditional costume; pipe hanging out of mouth; fur cap on head
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0604
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0604

Fort Stewart Activities-Parachute Exercise

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s
maker
Signal Corps' Army Pictorial Service and Army Communications Service
ID Number
2013.0327.0218
catalog number
2013.0327.0218
accession number
2013.0327

Woman in Dalecarlia, Sweden

Press print; woman standing on hillside blowing a long hornCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Press print; woman standing on hillside blowing a long horn
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
ID Number
2013.0327.0599
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0599

Album of Ben Polisky (family)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1944-45
ID Number
2007.3033.01
nonaccession number
2007.3033
catalog number
2007.3033.01

Dominoes Help Charley Learn to Loaf

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1943
ID Number
2013.0327.0830
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0830

Willie

Mounted gelatin silver print of Edward Weston's Willie, 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 Willie, 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.69.137.09
catalog number
69.137.9
accession number
288850

Child in Rome, 1948

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1948
maker
Avedon, Richard
ID Number
PG.007010
catalog number
7010
accession number
246871

Pulling bark from a tree

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936
maker
Associated Press
ID Number
2013.0327.0763
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0763

Commander Stassen greeted after delivering speech

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1944-1945
ID Number
2013.0327.1157
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1157

Photographic History Collection: Erich Salomon

The Eric Salomon Collection consists of two groups of gelatin silver prints from 1927-1943, totaling 140 prints. There is a certain amount of duplication between the groups. Accession 2002.0258 was acquired in 1965 from Salomon’s friend, Peter Hunter.
Description
The Eric Salomon Collection consists of two groups of gelatin silver prints from 1927-1943, totaling 140 prints. There is a certain amount of duplication between the groups. Accession 2002.0258 was acquired in 1965 from Salomon’s friend, Peter Hunter. These prints were made from Salomon’s original negatives. Accession 2002.0259 was acquired in 1965 from Magnum. Subjects in the collection are mainly photographs of politicians, diplomats, business magnates, royalty; European and American.
Dr. Erich Salomon (1886-1944) was born to a prominent Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. He became a lawyer before the outbreak of World War I but was drafted into service. When he returned, his family had lost its fortune and he needed to work. Salomon became interested in photography and soon specialized in taking photographs where cameras were not allowed and without his subject’s knowledge.
Salomon became famous in 1928 when his photographs from the Johann Hein murder trial in Coburg, Germany were published in the Berliner Illustrirte newspaper [see images PG*008164.42 and PG*008164.47]. From that point, Salomon became a freelance photographer, gaining admittance to even the most secure meetings and banquets. Salomon was labeled the first “candid cameraman” and called himself a bildjournalist, still the German word for “photojournalist.”
Salomon first used the common journalist’s camera – a 13 x 18 cm Contessa Nettel – but it was too cumbersome for his purposes. He soon switched to the Ermanox, a small plate-loaded camera perfect for photographing in low lighting. Salomon mastered the technique and used it until 1932 when he traded it for the Leica.
In 1933 Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. As Jews, Salomon and his family were forced to flee to Holland, his wife’s homeland, for protection. Based in The Hague, he had greater access to the political conferences but he also began taking photographs of cultural events, such as concerts. Salomon traveled to Britain and the United States as well. In 1943, while on the verge of immigrating to America, Salomon, his wife and one son were forced to go into hiding when the Nazis overtook Holland. They were eventually deported and died at the Auschwitz labor camp in July of 1944.
Salomon’s images survive to this day because of his foresight. In order to keep the negatives safe he hid them in three separate places in Holland during the war. The first group was placed in the Dutch Parliament library. The second, he buried in the chicken coup at a friend’s home. This group was critically damaged by the dampness, though many of the plates are still printable. The third was in the custody of friend Peter Hunter. In 1952, the collection was consolidated in Amsterdam. Beginning in the 1950s, there were a number of exhibitions of his work, including a 1958 traveling exhibition which was acquired by the Smithsonian.
date made
1927-1943
maker
Salomon, Erich
ID Number
COLL.PHOTOS.000014
accession number
2002.0258, 2002.0259
catalog number
PG*008164.01-.100, PG*008215.01-.40

Leica I (Model A)

This was the first kit sold by Leitz.The kit consists of a Leica 1(A) camera (Serial no. 4495) with 50mm f/3.5 Elmar lens and lens cap, a small dial rangefinder, two reloadable film cassettes in case, and a brown leather case to hold all the items.
Description
This was the first kit sold by Leitz.
The kit consists of a Leica 1(A) camera (Serial no. 4495) with 50mm f/3.5 Elmar lens and lens cap, a small dial rangefinder, two reloadable film cassettes in case, and a brown leather case to hold all the items. Model 1(A) Leicas were not fitted with a rangefinder for focusing, so from the very beginning Leitz (the manufacturer) sold an accessory rangefinder that fitted into the camera shoe. The rangefinder in this kit was the first design type sold by Leitz in 1925.
The kit also includes a small tubular case that contains two 35mm film cassettes. In the early Leica days preloaded 35mm film cassettes were not available and the camera users had to load their own cassettes from bulk film. From the beginning 36 exposures was the standard length of film. This kit would enable the user to shoot 72 exposures before resorting to a darkroom for reloading.
The whole kit fits into a custom leather case in excellent condition.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1924-1930
1940
bequest
Estate of Carolyn H. Edwards
maker
Ernst Leitz
Leica
ID Number
PG.71.099.01
accession number
296611
catalog number
71.099.01
serial number
4495

Mt. Williamson from Manzanar, California

Silver gelatin, mounted. Valley of boulders leading back to sunlit twin mountain peaks. One boulder in center foreground as focus. Signed, ink (recto: bottom right). Verso: Adams stamp. Title handwritten.
Description (Brief)
Silver gelatin, mounted. Valley of boulders leading back to sunlit twin mountain peaks. One boulder in center foreground as focus. Signed, ink (recto: bottom right). Verso: Adams stamp. Title handwritten. "RSN 82532R25" handwritten pencil.
Description
This photograph, which appeared in Edward Steichen’s 1955 Family of Man Exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, was taken while Adams was driving to the Manzanar Relocation Camp for Japanese-Americans in 1944. In “Examples,” Adams writes “the enormous backdrop of the Sierra Nevada to the east gave the nature-loving Japanese-Americans a certain respite from their mood of isolation and concern for the future” ("Examples," p.65). To give the mountains their due grandeur and proportion, Adams used the boulders and storm clouds to provide perspective. Placing his camera on a platform atop his station wagon, Adams tilted the camera down to keep the boulders and the peaks in focus, and drove back and forth to arrange the composition. The beauty and timelessness of this photograph starkly contrasts with his images of the internment camp itself.
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
1944
print made
ca 1968
maker
Adams, Ansel
ID Number
PG.69.117.10
accession number
282326
catalog number
69.117.10

Night View from Mt. Hollywood

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
ID Number
1986.3048.1637
nonaccession number
1986.3048
catalog number
1986.3048.1637

Fort Stewart Activities

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s
maker
Signal Corps' Army Pictorial Service and Army Communications Service
ID Number
2013.0327.0211
catalog number
2013.0327.0211
accession number
2013.0327

Loin of Pork

A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro photograph of uncooked pork loin and produce ca. 1930s-1940s. Advertisment for A&P.Recto: Signed by artist bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray label. Muray stamp.
Description (Brief)
A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro photograph of uncooked pork loin and produce ca. 1930s-1940s. Advertisment for A&P.
Recto: Signed by artist bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray label. Muray stamp. "A&P ad" (black marker).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s-1940s
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.69.247.13
catalog number
69.247.13
accession number
287542

American planes in formation over a Shinto shrine torii gate in Japan

When the American occupation began in 1945, the goal was to attempt to transplant Western democracy to Japan. The Americans would occupy the country; Japan would be monitored, demilitarized, and rehabilitated.
Description
When the American occupation began in 1945, the goal was to attempt to transplant Western democracy to Japan. The Americans would occupy the country; Japan would be monitored, demilitarized, and rehabilitated. Carl Mydans, having been named TIME-LIFE bureau chief in Tokyo, had a prime viewing spot for the changes that were taking place in the Pacific.
When the Korean War broke out nearly five years after the end of World War II, Japan's importance as a military base became clear. In this image, ancient and modern Japan stand in contrast: American jet fighter planes fly over a torii, the gateway to a Shinto shrine, as they return after a reconnaissance mission over the Pacific to an airbase on the island of Honshu.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1949
photographer
Mydans, Carl
ID Number
2005.0228.082
accession number
2005.0228
catalog number
2005.0228.082

Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1945-02-07
depicted (sitter)
La Guardia, Fiorello H.
ID Number
2013.0327.1148
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1148

Elderly man removing tree bark

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1936
maker
Associated Press
ID Number
2013.0327.0758
catalog number
2013.0327.0758
accession number
2013.0327

Atomic bomb explosion

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.7034G
catalog number
7034G
maker number
7034F-N-92-16872
accession number
246413

No. 23 San Francisco, CA 1947

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1947
maker
Feininger, Andreas
ID Number
1990.0160.044
accession number
1990.0160
catalog number
1990.0160.044

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