Highlights from the Photography Collection

The Photography Collection at The Nelson-Atkins encompasses the full history of the medium, from 1839 to the present. A diverse selection of works celebrating our rich holdings, from daguerreotypes to digitally composed photographs, will be on view in our photography galleries.

Since photography’s invention around 1839, photographers have used the camera for artistic expression, documentation, and scientific study. Though its technology and techniques have changed throughout history, photography has remained our most prolific means for engaging with the world.  As an art form, photographs express personal ideas and emotions, and explore new ways of seeing. Photographs have shaped our cultures and our collective memories, at times calling attention to social injustices and history’s omissions. Foremost, photography has allowed us to better understand our complex histories and our place in time.

The 85 photographs on display engage with these ideas, reflecting the depth and breadth of our collection. Artists include: Gustave Le Gray, Andrew Joseph Russell, William Henry Jackson, Alice Austen, Alfred Stiglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Ilse Bing, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, William Klein, William Eggleston, Lynne Cohen, Sage Sohier, Robbert Flick, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lee Friedlander, An-My Lê, William Earle Williams, Kozo Miyoshi, Bryon Darby, Jess T. Dugan, Trevor Paglen, and Alejandro Cartagena.

This installation is supported by the Hall Family Foundation.

Image captions:

Gustave Le Gray, French (1820–1884). Cavalry Maneuvers, Camp de Châlons, 1857. Albumen print, 10 3/16 × 13 1/8 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2017.61.20.

Timothy O’Sullivan, American, born Ireland (1840–1882). Sand Dunes, Carson Desert, Nevada, 1867. Albumen print, 7 7/8 × 10 5/8 in. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.191.

O. Winston Link, American (1914–2001). Hot Shot Eastbound, Laeger, West Virginia, 1956. Gelatin silver print, 15 1/2 × 19 3/8 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.2756.

Richard Avedon, American (1923–2004). Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque  d’Hiver , Paris, 1955. Gelatin silver print (printed about 1975), 10 × 7 7/8 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.416.

William Eggleston, American (born 1939). Tricycle, about 1971. Dye transfer print (printed about 1980), 11 15/16 × 17 7/16 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc., 2005.27.169.

An-My Lê, American,  (born Vietnam (, born 1960). Small Wars (rescue), 1999–2002. Gelatin silver print, 26 1/4 x 37 1/2 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2009.71.11.

Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexican (1902–2002). Self portrait, Oaxaca, 1996. Gelatin silver print, 6 7/16 × 9 7/16 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the Collection of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, 2016.74.2.

Bryon Darby, American (born 1979). Seventy Flights in Ninety Minutes, Phoenix, 2009. Inkjet print, 33 × 57 3/4 inches. The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2015.43.4.