Developing a photographic collection
National Museum of American History
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14694050 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Helena Wright (0000-0002-5565-6950, corresponding author), Helena E Wright |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-6 |
| Publication date | 2000-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of Photography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-7298 • E-ISSN: 2150-7295 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03087298.2000.10443354 |
| OpenAlex | W2325289524 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
When the Smithsonian Institution was established by act of Congress in 1846, the new science of photography was only seven years old. For most of the past century and a half, photography and the national collection have grown up together, and the story of the Smithsonian's photography collection offers a number of comparisons with developments and changes in the field as well as with the evolution of other national museums.1 In the mid-nineteenth century, museums embraced the breadth of human endeavour and inquiry, and cultural and scientific collections were housed together under one roof. Photography was viewed first as a practical activity, used for documenting buildings and specimens. Museum staff had little inclination and only occasional opportunities to acquire or exhibit the equipment and imagery of contemporary photographers and their recent predecessors. By the 1880s, consciously adopting taxonomic models, museums began to acquire photographs as examples of processes, to illustrate chronological increments toward the technical perfection of the craft. Together with images, cameras and other equipment, displayed in the manner of international expositions, formed an important element in the story
Archaeology · Art · Craft · History of photography · National museum · Perfection · Photography · Visual arts · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Photography and Visual Culture · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |