Photography: A Public Art, 1840 - 1939

The Gallery celebrates photography with an installation dedicated to its extraordinary Photographs Collection displaying classic images and rarely seen gems of artists, writers and actors by Edward Steichen, James Abbe, Berenice Abbott, Cecil Beaton and Dorothy Wilding among others. Carefully lit, artfully styled and skilfully retouched, such portraits have become defining images of the men and women that have shaped our culture. The display will celebrate sitters, makers and an array of different techniques as well as allowing visitors to revel in the creative language of photography and the constant reinvention of the genre of portraiture.