The Photography Collection was created in 1980 when images culled from other NYPL departments and branches were brought together to form a new division that now comprises approximately 500,000 photographs by 6,000 photographers. The Photography Collection encompasses the broadest range of the medium, including images made for commercial, industrial, and scientific application as well as images for the press and other print media, the vernacular of amateur snapshot photography and original works intended for exhibition and/or the art market. The collection includes examples of almost every photographic process, from the daguerreotype to digital imagery, and is especially strong in photographically illustrated books, travel and topographical photography, stereoscopic views, and portraiture. Other strengths include works from the first years of photography, American photography from the 1930s and 40s, limited edition portfolios, and works by New York-based photographers working in the 1970s and 80s.
Books and periodicals on general photography have been acquired comprehensively throughout the Library’s history. The department’s reference collection includes more than 20,000 volumes on photographers and the history of photography, exhibition catalogs, annuals, biographical dictionaries, and resource guides. These volumes are accessible primarily through the Art & Architecture Collection. Most of these works are searchable in the Library’s on-line catalog.
