NMAH Photographic History Collection
Smithsonian Staff
#nmahphc
The Photographic History Collection (PHC) represents the history of the medium of photography. The PHC holds the work of over 2000 identified photographers and studios, about 200,000 photographs, about 15,000 cameras, pieces of apparatus, studio equipment and sensitized materials. The scope of the collection spans from daguerreotypes to digital and includes unidentified to well-known photographers, international and United States-centered objects, and familiar and experimental photographic formats.
The Photographic History Collection, now at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, was founded in 1896. The PHC was established by Thomas Smillie, the Smithsonian's first official photographer. Smillie established two photography collections ---the PHC and the Photo Lab which is now part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and he ran them simultaneously until his death in 1917.
The PHC uses the Smithsonian Learning Lab as a place to offer a view into the collection's rich and diverse holdings. What is presented here online is not the entire Photographic History Collection. This digital space is a work in progress. We started publishing to the Learning Lab in February 2020 and are adding and improving as quickly as we can.
How to use the Smithsonian Learning Lab to discover PHC collections.
- To see a list of photographer and maker names, go here [link to come].
- In the Learning Lab, the PHC's collections are organized into four groups: Photographer, Format/Process, Subject, and Cameras and Apparatus.
- The Learning Lab collection only contains objects that have images attached to digital records. There may be additional objects and record information found at collections.si.edu.
- The Learning Lab collection may only contain a sampling of images if the collection is substantial. Additional materials may be found at collections.si.edu.
- Email us if you are looking for something specific.
- Tip, use the tool that allows the user to see the collections alphabetically.
Collection Staff: Shannon Thomas Perich, Curator
Contact: nmahphotohistory@si.edu
General Keywords: history of photography, photographic history, photographer, photographers, portraits, landscapes, cameras, photographic equipment, studio equipment, fine art photography, experimental photography, digital photography, patent models, photographic studio, ephemera, documents, cinema history, early motion picture, photojournalism, amateur photography, photography exhibitions, commercial photography
Photographic keywords: daguerreotype, calotype, salted paper print, gelatin silver print, tintype, ferrotype, ambrotype, collodion on glass, glass plate negative, platinum print, platinum-palladium print, photographs on fabric, cyanotype, cased images, ivorytype, stereoview, waxed paper negative, hologram, lenticular, Kromograms, press print, photo jewelry, stanhope, micro photography
Additional research resources: In December 2019, research resources that had been held in the division were distributed to other Smithsonian units. The "Personality Files" that contained biographies, obituaries, exhibition announcements, and such were absorbed by the Smithsonian Library NPG/AA branch; the list of subjects can be found here [link to come]. The "Archives Reference Files" that contained information about companies, products, and occasionally processes, were absorbed into the trade literature collection at the National Museum of American History branch of the Smithsonian Library. The Science Service images and files, the divisions's exhibition history files, personal files, correspondence files, and more can be found at the Smithsonian Archives.
NMAH Photographic History Collection's collections
Cameras and Apparatus: Leica Cameras #nmahphc
<p>This is a selection of Leica cameras from Photographic History Collection (PHC) at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The PHC holds has a significant collection of Leica cameras, lenses, and accessories totaling more than 200 items including over 25 cameras from the 1920s to the 2000s. This Learning Lab collection includes a pdf finding aid for Leica cameras. Included in the PHC are cameras used by photojournalists Carl Mydans and J. Ross Baughman.<br></p>
<p>For additional collections, search collections.si.edu.</p>
<p><span class="fontstyle0">Keywords: Leica, Barnack, 35mm, photography, camera<br></span></p>
<p><span class="fontstyle0">From the finding aid written by Anthony Brooks:<br>Leica Cameras have a unique position in the history of 35mm film photography. The Leica was not the first still camera taking 35mm film. It was not even the first commercially successful 35mm camera, but it set the gold standard for all other 35mm cameras and turned 35mm cameras from toys into serious professional tools.</span></p>
<p><span class="fontstyle0">The 35mm film gauge was first introduced in 1892 by Kodak for use by Thomas Edison to make movie films. Edison quickly settled on a standard frame size (18 x 24mm) with four sprocket holes per frame. This movie standard has remained unchanged. The growth of the movie industry in the early twentieth century required large quantities of 35mm film. 1000 feet of 35mm movie film creates less than 20 minutes of movie images. Soon there was interest in using this film for still photography and after 1910, the first 35mm cameras appeared. Most of the early 35mm camera designs used the single frame 18x24mm format and many used lengths of film capable of taking a hundred or more exposures. The quality of photographs from this small format was often disappointing and the number of exposures was a deterrent to amateur photographers. A contemporary small Kodak vest pocket camera took larger negatives on an eight exposure roll and produced better quality prints. </span>The majority of early 35mm cameras were not commercially successful and are rare today. One exception was the American made Ansco Memo introduced in 1926 that for a few years had a dedicated following. However, the introduction of the Leica 35mm camera was to dramatically change the status of 35mm photography. </p>
<p><span class="fontstyle0">The Leica was designed by Oscar Barnack, an employee of the Leitz Optical Company based in Wetzlar, Germany. Barnack may have conceived the first Leica for test exposures in the 18x24mm single frame format. Test exposures were often taken to check the lighting set-up for movies and portraits. However, at some point Barnack decided to design a 35mm camera for photography in its own right. In order to improve<br>image quality Barnack used two single frames and thus the standard 35mm film frame was born. The PHC contains many significant items that represent the history of Leica cameras.</span> </p>
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Subject: Self Portraits and Selfies #nmahphc
<p>This is a sampling of photographic self-portraits. <br></p>
<p>Professional and amateur photographers have been turning the camera on themselves since photography started. There are a number of strategies and tools that professional and amateur photographers have used, including mirrors, cable releases, timing devices, and simply turning the camera around at arm's length. Cell phones now allow almost effortless self-portraits, known as "selfies." <br></p>
<p>Keywords: self-portrait, self portrait, selfie, bulb release, string release, timed portrait, cable release, reflection in mirror</p>
<p>For additional images, search at collections.si.edu.</p>
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Photographer: Baughman, J. Ross #nmahphc
<p>The J. Ross Baughman collection in the Photographic History Collection at the National Museum of American History includes some 290 photographs, his Pulitzer prize, five contact sheets, an album, two books, and cameras. The photographs include various subjects such as his time in the Middle East, an unpublished series entitled <em>Beautified,</em> as well as, prints from Baughman's image assignments for <em>Life</em> magazine during the 1980s , including a story about two gay fathers.<br></p>
<p>Some of Baughman's cameras are seen the PHC's Learning Lab collection, <em>Leicas</em>.</p>
<p>Objects from Baughman's career and professional experiences can be found in two other National Museum of American History Collections (accessions 2010.0228 and 2010.0229).</p>
<p>For additional materials, search collections.si.edu.</p>
<p>Keywords: photojournalist, photojournalism, Rhodesia, Pulitzer Prize, undercover work, journalism, photography and danger, newspapers, print culture, picture magazines, print journalism, freelance photographer, controversy, contemporary politics, international affairs, protest, community activism, AIDS, gay family life, military, mercenaries<br></p>
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