Depth of Field showcases UMBC’s spectacular photo collections

Published: Nov 30, 2018

Barbara Traub, Twin Peaks, 1994, gelatin silver print. Accession no. 2013-02-022, © Barbara Traub, used with permission
Barbara Traub, Twin Peaks, 1994, gelatin silver print. Accession no. 2013-02-022, © Barbara Traub, used with permission (Barbara Traub, Twin Peaks, 1994, gelatin silver print. Accession no. 2013-02-022, © Barbara Traub, used with permission)

UMBC’s photography collection includes more than two million works, including rare and historic prints showcasing a range of formats, processes, genres, and technologies. Among these are the approximately one hundred images chosen for Depth of Field, an exhibit showcasing work acquired over the past decade.

Featured artists in the exhibition at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery through December 19 include Albert Arthur Allen, Laurie Brown, Kristin Capp, Clarence Carvell BFA ’93, Chim (David Seymour), William Eggleston, Donna Ferrato, Robert Fichter, Todd Forsgren, Peggy Fox, Sally Gall, Ralph Gibson, Penny Harris, Sam Holden, Irina Ionesco, Walter Iooss, Lotte Jacobi, N. Jay Jaffee, Brian Jones, Nate Larson, David S. Lavine, Alen MacWeeney, Mary Ellen Mark, Fred McDarrah, Dorothy Norman, David Seltzer, Steve Szabo, Barbara Traub, Peter Turnley, and Robert VonSternberg. Additionally, the exhibition features daguerreotypes, painted photographs, and post-mortem photographs. Depth of Field is curated by Emily Hauver, curator of exhibitions for the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery.

Robert Fichter, Dürer with Red Flowers, from the series Florida Photogenesia, 1984, silver-dye bleach print. Collection 132, © Robert Fichter, used with permission
Robert Fichter, Dürer with Red Flowers, from the series Florida Photogenesia, 1984, silver-dye bleach print. Collection 132, © Robert Fichter, used with permission

“The photography collections are really a treasure trove,” says Beth Saunders, the new curator and head of special collections and the gallery at the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery. “I can’t think of another university collection with the depth and breadth of UMBC’s; it is truly remarkable.” Saunders, previously assistant curator in the Department of Photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, oversees the management, preservation, and exhibition of UMBC’s photography, rare book, and archival collections.

An Enviable Collection

The Photography Collections at UMBC were established in the early 1970s, propelled by the purchase of over 5,000 photographs by pioneering social documentary photographer Lewis Hine. Today the collections contain more than two million photographs by Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Berenice Abbott, A. Aubrey Bodine, Bill Brandt, Eileen Cowin, Barbara Crane, Judy Dater, William Eggleston, Robert Frank, Roland Freeman, Lotte Jacobi, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Stephen Marc, David Plowden, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Walter Rosenblum, Jaromir Stephany (professor of visual arts, deceased), Steve Szabo, James Van Der Zee, Edward Weston, Minor White, members of the Photo-Secession, and hundreds of other artists.

Steve Szabo, Interior, Christ M. E. Church, 1976, from the series Eastern Shore, platinum print. Collection 254 © Steve Szabo, used with permission
Steve Szabo, Interior, Christ M. E. Church, 1976, from the series Eastern Shore, platinum print. Collection 254 © Steve Szabo, used with permission

“I’m really looking forward to working with and promoting UMBC’s Special Collections, and hope to increase engagement among students as well as the local Baltimore and wider scholarly communities,” says Saunders.

Depth of Field will continue on display through December 19. The Library Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended hours on Thursday until 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Additional information about the exhibition can be found here.

Lotte Jacobi, Marlene Dietrich, 1929, Platinum print, Accession no. P2013-31-014, gift of Louis Klaitman
Lotte Jacobi, Marlene Dietrich, 1929, Platinum print, Accession no. P2013-31-014, gift of Louis Klaitman
Todd Forsgren, Adelaide’s Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae), 2009, from the series Ornithological Photographs, Inkjet print, Accession no. P2016-07-001, gift of the artist
Todd Forsgren, Adelaide’s Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae), 2009, from the series Ornithological Photographs, Inkjet print, Accession no. P2016-07-001, gift of the artist
Sam Holden, [Iggy Pop], 2001, chromogenic color print, gelatin silver negatives, cross processed. Collection 255, © Sam Holden Archive, UMBC; Mina and Todd Holden, and Donna Sherman, used with permission
Sam Holden, [Iggy Pop], 2001, chromogenic color print, gelatin silver negatives, cross processed. Collection 255, © Sam Holden Archive, UMBC; Mina and Todd Holden, and Donna Sherman, used with permission
Studio of R. Yamamoto, Yokohama, Japan U.S. Sailor Earnest Estens, of the U.S.S. South Dakota, early 20th Century Cabinet card, Accession no. P2016-01-014
Studio of R. Yamamoto, Yokohama, Japan, U.S. Sailor Earnest Estens, of the U.S.S. South Dakota, early 20th Century Cabinet card, Accession no. P2016-01-014

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Header Image: Barbara Traub, Twin Peaks, 1994, gelatin silver print. Accession no. 2013-02-022,  © Barbara Traub, used with permission

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