Guided Tour of The American Museum of Photography
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Thanks for joining us on the Museum’s Guided Tour today. There’s so much to explore here that our staff thought you might want to take a quick look around before getting started. This is about the only place on our site where you won’t find many pictures. That allows the Tour to load quickly. So to get to any of the features mentioned, just click on one of the bold links when you’re ready.
We bill ourselves as “A Museum Without Walls… For An Art Without Boundaries.” Even though we have no walls, we do have “floors,” separate areas for different activities. At the bottom of most pages, you’ll find a navigation bar that will let you choose our Exhibitions floor, our Main Entrance floor, our Research Center or our Museum Shops. Just click on the place you want to visit. Or click on the Museum’s logo and you’ll find yourself transported to our Home Page.
You’re now at the Museum’s Main Entrance floor. In addition to picking up the tour here, you can catch up on all the Museum News–get updates on new and future exhibits, and read comments from your fellow museumgoers. Or visit our staff offices. Our Webmaster offers technical tips for getting the most out of this site. He also has a couple of amazing stories to tell, and he’ll gladly take a bug report. A few doors away, you’ll find the Director’s Office, where you can learn more about the Museum and our affiliated Collection. Researchers, editors, publishers and documentary producers should stop by the Registrar’s Office, where the business of searching the collection and providing our images for TV, film and print takes place. The Registrar also keeps our Collectors Registry in case we locate a photograph (or part with something) that another collection desperately wants. Also on our Main Entrance floor, you’ll find our Performing Arts division–where you’ll get the latest on Brady of Broadway, Wm. B. Becker’s acclaimed stage play about the photographer Mathew Brady.
Exhibitions
The heart of our Virtual Museum is the Exhibitions Floor. If you go directly to the floor, you’ll get a sample image for each of our ten current shows, or you can select from the links right here.
Our newest exhibition is “Do You Believe?” — three galleries of spirit photography, from the 1860s through the 1930s. To believers, these photographs are proof that the spirit survives after death and can return in ghostly form to communicate with the living. As movies like “The Sixth Sense” prove, this is an enduring idea. Among the strongest supporters of spirit photography was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur shows up in two of the images in this exhibition–and his appearance in the second one is, to put it bluntly, bizarre!
“‘Did You Ever Have A Dream Like This?'” is an introduction to the imaginative work of William H. “Dad” Martin–whose surrealistic photographic postcards (1908-1912) feature hunters stalking mammoth rabbits and farmers harvesting onions the size of washing machines. Visit this exhibit and see why Martin may be the best-selling photographer of all time!
Also on the lighter side: “Photography as a Fine ARF!” This collection of remarkable photographs that explores the bonds between dogs and humans. It features classic dog images from the daguerreotype period to the 1920s and includes a selection of photocollages by an Ohio dog breeder who delighted in turning people into canines. Even cat lovers are guaranteed a smile here!
“The Daguerreotypes of Southworth & Hawes” features a group of long-lost images by America’s first masters of photography. Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes produced some of the greatest photographic portraits ever made, during their 1843-1862 partnership in Boston. The exhibit is accompanied by Southworth’s own writings (including his advice to ladies about sitting for daguerreotype portraits), by an 1855 review of the studio’s work, and by a report on the rediscovery and auction of 240 Southworth & Hawes daguerreotypes in 1999.
“Masterworks of Photography” presents three galleries of great classics and rarely-seen masterpieces. It begins with the first photograph of a human figure on paper–by the inventor of the process–and runs through the work of Ansel Adams. There are daguerreotypes, Civil War photographs, platinum prints and a wonderful autochrome (an early color image on glass). The great photographers represented include Julia Margaret Cameron, Gertrude Kasebier, Clarence H. White and George N. Barnard, Carleton E. Watkins and the Bisson Freres. Click on any of the images for a closer look–and to read the story behind the photograph.
The lyrical black-and-white images in the exhibition “An Eye for the World“are a real rediscovery–photographs from a trip around the world by Shotaro Shimomura. They’re a masterful mix of the pictorialist and modernist styles current in the 1930s, recently found in their original wood presentation box in California. Our researchers worked for months to track down the story behind these remarkable images, and this exhibition has drawn more rave reviews from visitors than anything else on the site.
One of our most popular exhibits is “Selections.” It’s a changing showcase for new discoveries and all-time favorites from the Collection. If you haven’t checked in lately, you’re sure to enjoy a few surprises.
“At Ease” is a stereotype-smashing exhibition, featuring some of the earliest of all photographs–American portrait daguerreotypes from around 1850. Despite modern-day depictions of early portraits as stiff and harsh, these images are warm… relaxed…graceful–even funny! They’re accompanied by excerpts from a wonderful period text that makes it clear these superb portraits were no accident. (Give this one a minute to load, then click on any of the pictures for a closer look.) A must-see!
Another popular exhibit, “Small Worlds,” is a favorite of history buffs. It’s a show of carte de visite photographs from the 1860s & 70s, heavy on Americana– Native Americans, a frontier town, Abraham Lincoln’s funeral, and a dramatic train wreck. Click on any image to see more–sometimes a LOT more! Take a moment to view our “Brief History of the Carte de Visite” while you’re here. “Small Worlds” was singled out in Museums on the Web as a model for other online exhibitions.
“Of Bricks & Light” is our most extensive web exhibit. If you’ve never paid much attention to early architectural photography, this show will be a real revelation. There are scenes of sweeping grandeur and humble interiors brought alive by magnificent natural light. You’ll see images of war-time destruction and view the first stirrings of the historic preservation movement. This show is organized into five galleries, each with a different theme. As ever, click on any photograph in a gallery to get a better look.
Other Features In the Research Center, you’ll find a very helpful listing of various photographic processes. There’s also a new and important feature, Preserving and Protecting Photographs: A Product Guide. We offer specific recommendations based on our own experience, and provide a link to a key source for archival materials. The Research Center also offers links to selected photo-history sites on the web.
Our new Membership Program is FREE to all friends of photography. You’ll get email announcements of new exhibits, invitations to our members-only exhibition previews, product discounts (of special interest to photographers and those caring for collections of photos), and more.
Keep an eye on our growing Museum Shops. We’re very proud of our exclusive line of Museum Posters, featuring some of our most popular images. The posters are BIG, the quality is superb, and there’s easy online ordering. The Museum Bookstore allows you to browse through new and out-of-print titles and exclusive offerings. Check out our reviews of current titles, available through on-line ordering. And even if you don’t feel like eating while you surf our site, check out the great photograph in our Museum Cafe.
Enjoy your visit…and if there’s ever anything you’d like to suggest, remember we’re just an email away!
About our location: The American Museum of Photography is a Virtual Museum, located only on the Internet. We are open 24 hours a day, year-round.