
Photography
The invention of photography was first announced to the world in 1839, stunning the public with its possibilities as both an art and a science. The new medium profoundly changed how we record, perceive, and share visual information and influenced our understanding of art, history, society, and ourselves. Early forms of photography included the daguerreotype, the paper negative and salted paper print, and the cyanotype. Over time, new processes and formats have been introduced and superseded older ones resulting in the present near ubiquity of digital images.
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Article: Artists Who Expand Views of the Southwest
You may know Georgia O’Keeffe, but have you heard of Tonita Peña? Learn about the many artists inspired by the Southwest.

Article: 12 Documentary Photographers Who Changed the Way We See the World
Photographers of the 1970s revolutionized the medium through innovations of both style and subject.

Video: Deborah Luster: Archive of Lamentations
Deborah Luster discusses her works presented in the exhibition The Memory of Time: Contemporary Photographs at the National Gallery of Art, Acquired with the Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund.

Article: A Portrait of Gay and Lesbian America 30 Years On
Photographer Nancy Andrews reflects on her project searching for, and bringing visibility to, her community.

Article: Six Abolitionists in Photographs
See the portraits of antislavery activists, including Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.

Video: How One Family Photographed a Black Renaissance
Art historian Rashieda Witter tells the story of the Scurlock Family, who photographed some of the artists and creatives responsible for the Black Renaissance in Washington, D.C.

Video: Photograph Like a Great: Dorothea Lange
Washington, D.C. artist and native Dee Dwyer attempts to recreate the emotion and impact of Dorothea Lange's memorable photographs in her own work.

Video: Jason Reynolds Reads His Poem Inspired by Gordon Parks’s Photograph
Jason Reynolds reads "Charwoman Interrupted Again", his original poem inspired by Gordon Parks's photograph Washington, D.C. Government Charwoman (American Gothic).

Article: Outside the Frame: How Dorothea Lange Created Her Iconic Photographs
Learn about the documentary photographer’s techniques by tracing the process of creating some of her compelling images.

Article: The Real Lives of People in Dorothea Lange's Portraits
Four everyday Americans were the subject of her famous photographs. Discover the heartbreak and suffering they faced at crucial points in American history.

Article: Who Is Dorothea Lange? 6 Things to Know
Learn how the documentary photographer got her start and why she dedicated her life to the medium.

Article: Rare Early Photographs of African American Life
A large collection of personal photographs offers a glimpse of Black entrepreneurship and self-expression in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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The museum displays photographs on a rotating basis because long-term light exposure can cause irreversible damage. Anyone can request to see photographs in the permanent collection with advance notice. Please contact [email protected] to make an appointment.
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Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem, or New Negro, Renaissance was a period of artistic and cultural rebirth among African Americans between 1918 and the mid-1930s. Many Black artists experienced a freedom of artistic expression for the first time. They asserted pride in Black life and identity, called out inequality and discrimination, and responded to a rapidly changing modern world.

Portraits
Portraits represent people, either real or imagined, attempting to capture their appearance or essence. Some artists explored the human form and emotions through portraits of loved ones. Others made a living depicting wealthy or important people. And artists like Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh frequently used themselves as models.