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Collecting American Photography

The Making of U.S. Photographic History in Europe

About the Project

How is American photography defined? Where does American photography fit in the history of the medium as it developed? And how does race as a U.S. cultural construction impact photography scholarship and collecting practices abroad? Looking to the Rijksmuseum’s photographic collection and its 15-year commitment to acquiring photography of the United States with the goal of presenting the first comprehensive survey of the history of American photography in Europe, this research investigates the ways that photographs from the United States reflect the enduring relationship between the medium and the construction of race transnationally.

Aim of the project

Trace the presence of photographs of the United States in the permanent collections of select European art museums and put the Rijksmuseum collection in dialogue with the practices of peer institutions. Ultimately the goal is to begin to sketch the history of American photographs abroad and consider the impact of the politics of identity on the contours of American photography’s historiography. This independent research is being conducted in dialogue with the Curators of Photography as they prepare an exhibition devoted to the history of photography of the United States.

Related Publications

Charlotte Barat and Darby English, Among Others: Blackness at MoMA (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2019). Coco Fusco and Brian Wallis, Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self (New York: International Center for Photography, 2004). David Nye and Mick Gidley, American Photographs in Europe (Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1994).

Researchers

Natalie Zelt
n.zelt@rijksmuseum.nl
Terra Foundation for American Art Photography Fellow, Rijksmuseum

Mattie Boom
m.boom@rijksmuseum.nl
Curator of Photography

Hans Rooseboom
h.rooseboom@rijksmuseum.nl
Curator of Photography

Partners and Sponsors

This Fellowship is made possible by the Terra Foundation for American Art, and is part of the Rijksmuseum Fellowship Programme.

View on the Mississippi River from the Base of a Dam View on the Mississippi River from the Base of a Dam

View on the Mississippi River from the Base of a Dam, Peter Henry Bosse, 1889

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Man in a Doorway, Seen from a Car Man in a Doorway, Seen from a Car

Man in a Doorway, Seen from a Car, Luke Swank, c. 1934

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The sketch (Beatrice Baxter Ruyl) The sketch (Beatrice Baxter Ruyl)

The sketch (Beatrice Baxter Ruyl), Gertrude Käsebier, 1902

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Observatiewagen en treintje bij de ingang van de zwarte kloof in de Rocky Mountains Observatiewagen en treintje bij de ingang van de zwarte kloof in de Rocky Mountains

Observatiewagen en treintje bij de ingang van de zwarte kloof in de Rocky Mountains, anonymous, 1888

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Light Drawing Light Drawing

Light Drawing, Herbert Matter, c. 1943

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Portret van een meisje, met achter haar onder een doek verborgen haar moeder ("hidden mother") Portret van een meisje, met achter haar onder een doek verborgen haar moeder ("hidden mother")

Portret van een meisje, met achter haar onder een doek verborgen haar moeder ("hidden mother"), anonymous, 1880 - 1910

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Links: Kussend stel op Manhattan Beach bij Los Angeles; rechts witte bladzijde met door Van der Elsken zelf gecalligrafeerde hoofdstuktitel 'U.S.A.' Links: Kussend stel op Manhattan Beach bij Los Angeles; rechts witte bladzijde met door Van der Elsken zelf gecalligrafeerde hoofdstuktitel 'U.S.A.'

Links: Kussend stel op Manhattan Beach bij Los Angeles; rechts witte bladzijde met door Van der Elsken zelf gecalligrafeerde hoofdstuktitel 'U.S.A.', Ed van der Elsken, 1960

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American photography