May 1 – August 8, 2021

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes, and the 24 images on display in Masters of American Photography, takes visitors on a pictorial journey that traces the history of photography from the mid-19th century to the 20th century.

From Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand and Margaret Bourke-White, the range of these notable photographers underscores the influence each had on the Pictorialism movement which sought to elevate the status of photography to a fine art. Themes such as portraiture, landscape, cityscape, still life, motion capture, and cultural history are explored in an impressive array of works by these most important artists in the chronicles of photography.

Examining the advent of photography from the 1880s through the 1980s, Masters focuses on the extraordinary fervor that surrounded the innovation of this newest medium of visual representation. Emphasizing the experimental nature and evolution of photographic techniques through this time period, this unique exhibition showcases some of the photographs made during the Great Depression to call attention to the challenges of rural poverty, as well as the impact on the people whose lives were now documented as part of the collective record of the artform and its noted accounts of those moments.

On display through August 8, 2021, Masters of American Photography is filled with opportunities for visitors to explore an extraordinary time in the early history of what has not only become a profession and hobby, but a passion and art form for so many.

This definitive collection, comprised of many vintage prints, was organized by the Reading Public Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania.