SACRAMENTO, CALIF.- The Crocker Art Museum announces Frames of Mind: The Ramer Photography Collection, on view from November 10, 2024 – May 5, 2025. The exhibition celebrates the recent gift of 68 photographs from the Davis couple, whose collection is united by an engagement with the human condition and a concern for social equity. This donation marks the 50th anniversary of the Ramers’ journey in collecting photography.

Frames of Mind explores the shared experiences that connect people across different cultures, regions, and time periods. Whether focused on human subjects, streetscapes, or landscapes, the photographs encourage viewers to slow down and view the world—and one another—with greater empathy and understanding.

The exhibition includes photographs by acclaimed Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee, whose images capture the vibrant and growing African American middle class in Harlem, New York in the 1920s and 1930s. Van Der Zee’s work is presented alongside that of other artists from the 1930s, including Japanese architect Iwao Yamawaki, who moved to Germany to study at the Bauhaus and there embraced architectural photography, as well as American photographers Lewis Hine and Walker Evans, both employed by initiatives connected to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression.

Socially conscious photographs of post-war Europe feature prominently in the exhibition. German-born British photographer Dorothy Bohm, who received a Leica camera from her father as she boarded a train to flee from the Nazis, focused her lens on the everyday people of Europe during and after the war. Similarly, British photographer Shirley Baker's sympathetic images of working-class children playing in the blighted streets of Manchester and Salford in the 1960s and 1970s reveal how wonder and joy can persist during times of hardship. The Ramers' gift also includes many photographs taken in the former Czechoslovak Socialist Republic while the country was still under communist rule, as well as works by significant women photographers and contemporary California artists.

Exhibition Curator Francesca Wilmott, PhD, explains, “As a renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Barry Ramer developed a sensitive eye for imagery that delves into the human psyche and leaves a lasting impression. The Ramers’ collecting interests are not limited to celebrated photographers. They are also captivated by the work of lesser-known artists whose unique way of seeing the world resonates with them personally.”

Frames of Mind—which spans both second floor temporary exhibition galleries—presents over 100 photographs in total. In addition to recently acquired works, it also includes artworks that the Ramers have gifted to the Crocker since 2015. Artists include Thomas Annan, Eugène Atget, Jaroslav Bárta, Flor Garduño, Susan Felter, Ana Mendieta, Richard Misrach, Sebastião Salgado, Young Suh, and Beth Yarnelle Edwards, among others. Many of the photographs in this gift represent the first works by an artist to enter the Crocker’s collection, while others deepen the museum’s existing holdings.