Where would we be without our cameras?
c. 1827–now
Beginner's guide
"To collect photographs is to collect the world."
—Susan Sontag, On Photography (1977)
videos + essays
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John Choate, Boarding School Portraits of Tom Torlino
Indigenous students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School were photographed "before and after" forced assimilation.
Shigemi Uyeda’s Reflections on the Oil Ditch
Getty Conversations
Using photography, Shigemi Uyeda captured the environment of Los Angeles and the growing popularity of oil production in the early 20th century.
Malick Sidibé’s Vues de dos
Getty Conversations
In Vues de dos, Malick Sidibé took his background in portrait photography to new compositions inspired by Mali and Western traditions in portraiture.
Esther Bubley, Waiting for the Bus at the Memphis Terminal
At the age of 22, American photographer Esther Bubley took a six-week unaccompanied Greyhound bus trip.
Alphonse Bertillon, Mugshot and Record of Francis Galton
Portrait photographs were used by police in France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States to help police and victims try to identify repeat offenders—but also point to implicit biases in policing.
Santu Mofokeng, Train Churches
Santu Mofokeng's Train Churches shows people preaching, praying, healing, dancing, and making music while commuting on train cars in South Africa.
Malick Sidibé, Nuit de Noël (Happy Couple)
Fun and festive, Nuit de Noël (Happy Couple) is exemplary of Malick Sidibé’s best known body of work: photographs of young people at social gatherings and events during the 1960s and 1970s.
László Moholy-Nagy, Photogram
László Moholy-Nagy's Photogram forces the viewer to question what a photograph is.
Binh Danh, Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite CA, May 31, 2012
Can we ever really see and experience a site without comparing it to the photographs of that same scene?
Joel Sternfeld, On This Site—The Stonewall Inn
On This Site reminds us of the many tragedies that have marked American history and yet remain unmarked, on-site and in the present.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, View from the Window at Le Gras
Niépce's heliograph is the earliest surviving camera-made photograph.
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