Our Collection Selection Boxes are a unique opportunity to handle original prints, drawings and photographs from our collection. These resources contain carefully curated material that introduces a particular period, style, material, or technique, and are available for individual study or group teaching.
There are three boxes available containing material related to the history of photography from some of the first photographers in the mid-19th century up to the late 20th century.
Box 1: The History of Photography (1839 – 1900)
This box contains images from some of the first photographers and discusses the development of photography through the late 19th and early 20th century. It traces the medium from its origins in the 1840s to its first formal artistic style, Pictorialism, around the turn of the 20th century.
You can also view and download this resource as a PDF:
Box 2: The History of Photography (1910 – 40)
This box contains images from photographers from the early 20th century and discusses how different technologies and ideas brought about new styles of photography.
You can also view and download this resource as a PDF:
Box 3: The History of Photography (1940 – 90)
This box contains images from the mid- to late 20th century. It discusses the continued development of photography in the years between 1940 and 1990, during rapidly changing socio-political and technological contexts. This box also contains a small case-study of photographs from the New Society magazine. This magazine was a pioneering weekly publication in circulation between 1962 and 1988, which focused on everyday people from all corners of modern Britain.
You can also view and download this resource as a PDF: