Photography at PEM

Beginning with the acquisition in 1840 of Vincent Chevalier's Daguerreotype of Pont Neuf in Paris, made in 1839, the year of photography's invention, the collection at PEM has grown to nearly a million examples. With hundreds of different techniques represented, from paper negative to digital, the collection tells the story of photography over two and a half centuries, helping us understand why and how pictures are made and the important role the medium has had in shaping visual culture. Modern and contemporary images--vintage works by Diane Arbus, Nicholas Nixon and Milton Rogovin--complement a handsome group of photographs by modernist master Walker Evans and celebrated holdings in 19th-century Asian, Native American, maritime and early American photographs.