Christopher Reeve sits in profile in a motorized wheelchair, wearing a black shirt and supported by a headrest and ventilator.Christoper Reeve, Side View, Hollywood, Herb Ritts Jr. Gelatin silver print 1996 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Gift of the Herb Ritts Foundation © Herb Ritts Foundation

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of its photography collection, which now makes up nearly half the museum’s holdings.

Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting will go on view at the museum on November 14, 2026. The exhibition will bring together more than 120 photographic portraits belonging to National Portrait Gallery, spanning the Daguerreian era through the digital age, tracing the development of photography and its role in documenting U.S. history and culture.

A sepia-toned portrait of Abraham Lincoln, showing his head and shoulders, with a prominent diagonal crack across the top.Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Gardner Albumen silver print 1865 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection
A black-and-white portrait of a person with short blonde hair, wearing a dark garment and holding one hand to their chest, set against a soft, shadowed background.Lee Miller, Man Ray Gelatin silver print c. 1930 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2025
Malcolm X walks past a Rexall store window filled with "1¢ Sale" advertisements, holding a newspaper with a headline about a police shooting.Malcolm X, Gordon Parks Gelatin silver print 1963 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

The National Portrait Gallery began collecting photography in 1976, the year of the U.S. bicentennial, when it expanded its collecting mandate to include the medium. Photographs provided a way for the museum to represent many people who had shaped the nation’s history but had never sat for a painted or sculpted portrait.

A daguerreotype portrait of a woman with a chin tattoo, wearing a dark patterned dress with a white collar, set in an ornate gold oval frame.Olive Oatman, Unidentified Artist Sixth-plate ambrotype c. 1856 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
A daguerreotype portrait of a bearded man standing behind two seated women, all dressed in mid-19th-century formal attire.Mathew Brady, Juliet “Julia” Brady and Ellen Brady Haggerty, Unidentified Artist Quarter-plate daguerreotype c. 1851 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
A daguerreotype portrait of Frederick Douglass, featuring his head and shoulders framed in an ornate, oval gold-colored border.Frederick Douglass, Unidentified Artist Quarter-plate ambrotype c. 1856 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; purchased with funds from an anonymous donor

Organized chronologically and curated by Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs, Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting will examine the evolution of photography and highlight influential photographers and photographic processes from 1843 to the present. An introductory timeline will outline major photographic processes and technological innovations.

Spike Lee poses in a black-and-white portrait, wearing a branded hat and glasses while holding a Bolex movie camera.Spike Lee, Jesse Frohman Inkjet print 1999 (printed 2014) | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist; 2017 Portrait of a Nation Prize Recipient © 1999 Jesse Frohman
A black-and-white portrait of a man with a mustache, leaning his arms on the back of a chair while holding a cigarette.John Steinbeck | Sonya Noskowiak Gelatin silver print 1935 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Estate of Sonya Noskowiak
A portrait of a young woman with long dark hair, wearing a layered beaded necklace and a dark garment, seated against a wall.Zitkála-Šá, Joseph T. Keiley Glycerine-developed platinum print 1898 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Among the works on display will be an 1846 quarter-plate daguerreotype of Dolley Madison by John Plumbe Jr., which will be shown for the first time since the Portrait Gallery acquired it in July 2024. It will be displayed alongside an 1843 half-plate daguerreotype of President John Quincy Adams. The pairing will mark the first time the earliest known photographs of a U.S. president and first lady have been exhibited together.

A black-and-white portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, wearing a beaded dress and pearls, holding a pencil while looking to the side.Eleanor Roosevelt, Yousuf Karsh Gelatin silver print 1944 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift Yousuf Karsh © Estate of Yousuf Karsh
A sepia-toned portrait of Rose O'Neal Greenhow and her daughter, Rose, sitting together in the Old Capitol Prison in 1862.Rose and Rose O’Neal Greenhow, Alexander Gardner Albumen silver print 1862 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
A woman holding a tennis racket stands on a city street court surrounded by a group of children, with apartment buildings in the background.Althea Gibson, Genevieve Naylor Gelatin silver print 1957 (printed c. 1970) | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Estate of Genevieve Naylor
A woman with short dark hair jumps in the air, wearing a flowing, light-colored gown that spreads out around her against a plain backdrop.Lena Horne, Philippe Halsman Gelatin silver print 1954 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Philippe Halsman Archive

Other historical works include Alexander Gardner’s original “cracked-plate” portrait of Abraham Lincoln, British camera artist Julia Margaret Cameron’s photograph of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and rare cabinet-card photographs of Ida B. Wells-Barnett by Sallie E. Garrity and Ko K’un-hua by George K. Warren.

A studio portrait of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody standing on a rock formation, wearing a fringed buckskin coat and holding a rifle.“Buffalo Bill” Cody, José Maria Mora Albumen silver print c. 1875 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

A studio portrait of Red Cloud, a Lakota leader, sitting on a wooden chair holding a cane, with a painted backdrop and artificial foliage.Red Cloud Artist: Charles Milton Bell Albumen silver print 1880 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

The exhibition will also feature photographs by influential figures including Mathew Brady, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Annie Leibovitz.

Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting will be on view on the second floor of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery from Nov. 14, 2026, through November 7, 2027.

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