ROCHESTER, NY.- The George Eastman Museum, the world’s oldest photography museum, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its opening to the public with an examination of the medium and its extensive collection from a contemporary perspective. The exhibition, Life with Photographs: 75 Years of the Eastman Museum will be on display through August 31, 2025.


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“The George Eastman Museum, with its collection’s breadth and depth, is inextricably intertwined with the history of photography,” said Jamie M. Allen, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Curator and Head of the Department of Photography at the George Eastman Museum. “In the exhibition Life with Photographs, we pay homage to seventy-five years of this world-renowned institution while also creating openings for ongoing conversations, contemporary interpretations, and new understandings of how photography continues to impact contemporary life.”

Life with Photographs: 75 Years of the Eastman Museum explores the many ways in which photographs have come to shape our everyday lives. The exhibition includes seven sections—Before Photography, Questioning Photography, Structures of Knowledge, Backdrops, Expansive Documentary, Photography Groups, and Languages of Form—each focusing on strengths of the collection and offering varied approaches to the understanding of photography.

The exhibition represents many cultures and image-making practices, from pre-photographic experiments to contemporary artworks that challenge our conceptions of the medium. The collection objects on view—including celebrated photographs, less-known works, and recent acquisitions—illuminate unexpected pathways into the museum’s rich and diverse holdings.

“This exhibition is the result of an exemplary collaboration among all four members of our Department of Photography’s curatorial team,” said Bruce Barnes, PhD, Ron and Donna Fielding Director, George Eastman Museum. “The exhibition suggests the overwhelming bounty of our holdings, while taking new approaches to understanding the photographic medium. It offers sources of insight, inspiration, and joy. Visitors should see the exhibition early and visit it often.”

After opening its doors to the public in 1949, the George Eastman Museum quickly became known as one of the most important venues dedicated to the collection and care of photographs. At the time of its opening, it was one of only two American museums with a photography department, and this early commitment has enmeshed the institution to the history of photography itself.

The museum’s holdings have been amassed through decades of gifts and purchases, and its distinguished exhibition history reflects the vision and impact of its curators over the past seventy-five years. This presentation is a nod to this history while offering distinct perspectives on the medium from the vantage point of the twenty-first century.

Life with Photographs is co-curated by Jamie M. Allen, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Curator and Head of the Department of Photography; Phil Taylor, associate curator; Daniel Peacock, assistant curator; and Louis Chavez, curatorial associate.


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