Museum-Studio Photographers
In the beginning, the unwieldy nature of photography gave rise to the opening of photography studios. It was very difficult for individuals to take pictures on their own, and few did. If you wanted a daguerreotype, ambrotype, tintype, carte de visite, cabinet card or formal portrait made you went to a professional photographer in a studio. It was only by the beginning of the twentieth century that advances in technology made it possible for everyman to easily take a photograph: "You press the button and we do the rest." However, photography studios never ceased to exist albeit in smaller numbers.
We still admire the pictures of some 20th Century studio photographers, i.e. Mike Disfarmer, and James Van Der Zee are two examples. The large body of work by many other such photographers has, for the most part, been lost .
Museum Gift Shop-Studio Photographers
Images from the museum collection are not available for sale