What We’re Collecting Now

Ongoing exhibition beginning June 9, 2007

Opening June 9, George Eastman House will present the third installment of What We’re Collecting Now, a crosssection of recent additions to the Museum’s photograph, technology, and library collections.

Exhibition curators Ola Dlugosz and Stefanie Petrilli are students of the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management Master of Arts program, offered through collaboration between George Eastman House and Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

Drawn from the historically broad spectrum of photobased objects Eastman House acquires, this year’s selection represents current photographic movements, and reflects the Museum’s efforts to expand its collection of contemporary photographs, specifically focusing on images driven by contemporary issues.

The exhibition’s politically charged photographs artfully merge aspects of journalism, activism, and voyeurism to illustrate responses to global problems, and produce powerful visual statements for the informative and transformative power of the photographic medium.

Items from the technology and library areas, such as cameras, books, and posters, were selected for their ability to advance photojournalism, influence an audience, and provide commentary on world events through photography.

Also on display are reproductions of two recently-acquired, never-before-seen Edward Steichen autochromes. While the Eastman House holds the Steichen archive, totaling more than 11,000 images, these newly discovered autochromes from 1908 are rare in that they are one-of-a-kind works from the era of the Pictorialist movement and have never before been seen by the public. In addition, these are superb examples of Steichen’s first foray into color photography. Click here to read more about the acquisition.

Click here to view selections from the exhibition online.