{"id":869689,"date":"2026-10-03T19:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T19:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/869689\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T19:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T19:14:22","slug":"from-daguerreotypes-to-digital-national-portrait-gallery-celebrates-50-years-of-collecting-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/869689\/","title":{"rendered":"From Daguerreotypes to Digital: National Portrait Gallery Celebrates 50 Years of Collecting Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2025_5-Reeve_ext-800x642.jpg\" alt=\"Christopher Reeve sits in profile in a motorized wheelchair, wearing a black shirt and supported by a headrest and ventilator.\" width=\"800\" height=\"642\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881052\"   loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>Christoper Reeve, Side View, Hollywood, Herb Ritts Jr. Gelatin silver print 1996 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Gift of the Herb Ritts Foundation \u00a9 Herb Ritts Foundation<\/p>\n<p>The Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of its photography collection, which now makes up nearly half the museum\u2019s holdings.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/npg.si.edu\/exhibition\/photographic-memory-fifty-years-collecting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting <\/a> 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2025\/05\/22\/national-portrait-gallerys-exhibition-charts-the-evolution-of-early-portrait-photography\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Daguerreian era<\/a> through the digital age, tracing the development of photography and its role in documenting U.S. history and culture.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_81_M1_int-685x800.jpg\" alt=\"A sepia-toned portrait of Abraham Lincoln, showing his head and shoulders, with a prominent diagonal crack across the top.\" width=\"685\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881039\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Gardner Albumen silver print 1865 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Miller.PM079.NPG_2000_62-624x800.jpg\" alt=\"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.\" width=\"624\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881041\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Lee Miller, Man Ray Gelatin silver print c. 1930 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution \u00a9 Man Ray 2015 Trust \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY \/ ADAGP, Paris 2025<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_98_81_X_int-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"Malcolm X walks past a Rexall store window filled with &quot;1\u00a2 Sale&quot; advertisements, holding a newspaper with a headline about a police shooting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881032\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Malcolm X, Gordon Parks Gelatin silver print 1963 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s history but had never sat for a painted or sculpted portrait.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2018.90-Oatman-695x800.jpg\" alt=\"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.\" width=\"695\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881054\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Olive Oatman, Unidentified Artist Sixth-plate ambrotype c. 1856 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_85_78_det_inex-621x800.jpg\" alt=\"A daguerreotype portrait of a bearded man standing behind two seated women, all dressed in mid-19th-century formal attire.\" width=\"621\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881038\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Mathew Brady, Juliet \u201cJulia\u201d Brady and Ellen Brady Haggerty, Unidentified Artist Quarter-plate daguerreotype c. 1851 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_74_75-618x800.jpg\" alt=\"A daguerreotype portrait of Frederick Douglass, featuring his head and shoulders framed in an ornate, oval gold-colored border.\" width=\"618\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881042\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Frederick Douglass, Unidentified Artist Quarter-plate ambrotype c. 1856 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; purchased with funds from an anonymous donor<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2015_6_inex-785x800.jpg\" alt=\"Spike Lee poses in a black-and-white portrait, wearing a branded hat and glasses while holding a Bolex movie camera.\" width=\"785\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881050\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>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 \u00a9 1999 Jesse Frohman<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2006_75-658x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white portrait of a man with a mustache, leaning his arms on the back of a chair while holding a cigarette.\" width=\"658\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881047\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>John Steinbeck | Sonya Noskowiak Gelatin silver print 1935 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution \u00a9 Estate of Sonya Noskowiak<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2006_10-Zitkala-Sa-675x800.jpg\" alt=\"A portrait of a young woman with long dark hair, wearing a layered beaded necklace and a dark garment, seated against a wall.\" width=\"675\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881046\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Zitk\u00e1la-\u0160\u00e1, Joseph T. Keiley Glycerine-developed platinum print 1898 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2012_77_89_Roosevelt_int-655x800.jpg\" alt=\"A black-and-white portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, wearing a beaded dress and pearls, holding a pencil while looking to the side.\" width=\"655\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881049\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Eleanor Roosevelt, Yousuf Karsh Gelatin silver print 1944 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift Yousuf Karsh \u00a9 Estate of Yousuf Karsh<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_96_78_inex-549x800.jpg\" alt=\"A sepia-toned portrait of Rose O'Neal Greenhow and her daughter, Rose, sitting together in the Old Capitol Prison in 1862.\" width=\"549\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881034\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Rose and Rose O\u2019Neal Greenhow, Alexander Gardner Albumen silver print 1862 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_93_363-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holding a tennis racket stands on a city street court surrounded by a group of children, with apartment buildings in the background.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881035\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Althea Gibson, Genevieve Naylor Gelatin silver print 1957 (printed c. 1970) | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution \u00a9 Estate of Genevieve Naylor<br \/>\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_98_43-636x800.jpg\" alt=\"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.\" width=\"636\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881033\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Lena Horne, Philippe Halsman Gelatin silver print 1954 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution \u00a9 Philippe Halsman Archive<\/p>\n<p>Other historical works include Alexander Gardner\u2019s original \u201ccracked-plate\u201d portrait of Abraham Lincoln, British camera artist Julia Margaret Cameron\u2019s photograph of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and rare cabinet-card photographs of Ida B. Wells-Barnett by Sallie E. Garrity and Ko K\u2019un-hua by George K. Warren.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_77_155_inex-535x800.jpg\" alt=\"A studio portrait of William &quot;Buffalo Bill&quot; Cody standing on a rock formation, wearing a fringed buckskin coat and holding a rifle.\" width=\"535\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881043\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\u201cBuffalo Bill\u201d Cody, Jos\u00e9 Maria Mora Albumen silver print c. 1875 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/NPG_2005_117__ext-629x800.jpg\" alt=\"A studio portrait of Red Cloud, a Lakota leader, sitting on a wooden chair holding a cane, with a painted backdrop and artificial foliage.\" width=\"629\" height=\"800\" class=\"size-large wp-image-881045\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>Red Cloud Artist: Charles Milton Bell Albumen silver print 1880 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution<\/p>\n<p>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. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/npg.si.edu\/exhibition\/photographic-memory-fifty-years-collecting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting<\/a> will be on view on the second floor of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery from Nov. 14, 2026, through November 7, 2027.<\/p>\n<p> Affiliate Disclosure PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christoper Reeve, Side View, Hollywood, Herb Ritts Jr. Gelatin silver print 1996 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution:&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-869689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}