Press Release

Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography

Richard Avedon, "Tom Stroud, oil field worker, Velma, Oklahoma, June 12, 1980", 1980

Richard Avedon
Tom Stroud, oil field worker, Velma, Oklahoma, June 12, 1980, 1980
gelatin silver print
mount: 151.77 x 119.7 cm (59 3/4 x 47 1/8 in.)
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas

Laurie Tylec

[email protected]

(202) 842-6355

Dependent on precious metals from its inception, photography has always been intertwined with the natural resources that are fundamental to modern industrialized life. Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography is the first exhibition to exclusively examine how photographers from the mid-19th century to today have powerfully captured the effects of resource extraction on the land and communities of the United States. Featuring some 150 photographs that span 185 years, this exhibition focuses especially on the subterranean removal of the minerals and fossil fuels that power this country’s economy and industry. Together, these works demonstrate how photographers have drawn on changing technology and unique visual strategies to rise to the challenge of picturing these colossal industries.

Made for a variety of purposes, ranging from commercial boosterism and celebration of technical advancement to social documentation and community activism, the pictures in the exhibition shed light on how photography has revealed the costs of extraction and who benefits from its success. Divided into six broad, chronological sections that contextualize the complex history of photography and extraction, from daguerreotypes of the Gold Rush to large-scale, immersive photographs made in the last decade, Beneath the Surface highlights how artists have used photography to explore the relationship between extraction, society, and the environment.

This exhibition is curated by Diane Waggoner, curator of photographs, National Gallery of Art, and Kristen Gaylord, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, in collaboration with the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Major support for the exhibition has been provided by the Center for Contemporary
Documentation.

The exhibition is also made possible through the leadership support of the Trellis Charitable Fund.

Additional support for this exhibition was provided by Nion McEvoy and Leslie Berriman.

 

Exhibition Tour

National Gallery of Art, Washington, May 23–August 23, 2026
Milwaukee Art Museum, October 23, 2026–January 17, 2027
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, February 14–May 9, 2027

 

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