Mission

The primary focus of the MUUS Collection is to bring together American photography archives from the twentieth century.

Our mission as custodians of this collection is to make visible these exceptional photography archives through exhibitions, scholarship, donations, licensing, and the printing of images and books.

About

The MUUS Collection brings together photographic works that mark major turning points in American history, ultimately creating a road map of our shared past. We believe in the unique power of photography as an inimitable touchstone of collective cultural memory, and it is our goal to preserve and promote these invaluable artifacts for generations to come.

As a functional archive, the MUUS Collection builds, preserves, studies, and shares its outstanding collections of American photography, generating new scholarship and understanding, while instigating interesting and relevant dialogues within the wider photography community. The combined art, archival, and research materials that make up the MUUS Collection ultimately serve to deepen our appreciation of how photography impacts society.

We are dedicated to the critical understanding of historical photography and related media, and aim to highlight the ways in which the visual arts can facilitate a reflection of our shared American history. Where did we come from, and where are we going? What have we learned from our victories and mistakes, and how can we filter these lessons productively through our current moment?

In 1996, Fred McDarrah published "Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today", not only a photobook but a record of the gay rights movement in New York City from the Stonewall Riots and onward. The first of three introductions to the book is by Allen Ginsberg, who McDarrah photographed many times over the years. In it, he reflects on his friend's involvement as a photographer of the movement: ⁠
"He's paid humble attention year after year to his beat- -curious intersection of journeyman journalist & cultural archivist. He has soulful instinct from human ground under his special subjects, Though not gay, a hard laboring family man himself, he's made photo records of gay parades for decades--sign of a real artist's inquisitive sympathy, intelligent democracy."⁠
⁠
Above, a view of a damaged jukebox and cigarette machine, along with a broken chair, inside the Stonewall Inn after the uprising over the week of June 27, 1969, which led to the formation of the modern gay rights movement in the United States. ⁠
⁠
Stay tuned this month as we share images published in this book as well as those previously unseen by the public, in honor of Pride 2023!⁠
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DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠
⁠
© Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection⁠
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#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #Photobook #QueerHistory #GayPride #StonewallUprising #StonewallRiots #StonewallRevolution #AllenGinsberg #GayIcons #GayPoet #GayRights #TransRights #35mmPhoto #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives #PhotoBook #BnWFilm #BlackAndWhitePhotography #HistoricPhotography #VintagePhotographs #PrideHistory #QueerPhotography #LGBTQPhotography
In 1996, Fred McDarrah published "Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today", not only a photobook but a record of the gay rights movement in New York City from the Stonewall Riots and onward. The first of three introductions to the book is by Allen Ginsberg, who McDarrah photographed many times over the years. In it, he reflects on his friend's involvement as a photographer of the movement: ⁠ "He's paid humble attention year after year to his beat- -curious intersection of journeyman journalist & cultural archivist. He has soulful instinct from human ground under his special subjects, Though not gay, a hard laboring family man himself, he's made photo records of gay parades for decades--sign of a real artist's inquisitive sympathy, intelligent democracy."⁠ ⁠ Above, a view of a damaged jukebox and cigarette machine, along with a broken chair, inside the Stonewall Inn after the uprising over the week of June 27, 1969, which led to the formation of the modern gay rights movement in the United States. ⁠ ⁠ Stay tuned this month as we share images published in this book as well as those previously unseen by the public, in honor of Pride 2023!⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠ ⁠ © Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #Photobook #QueerHistory #GayPride #StonewallUprising #StonewallRiots #StonewallRevolution #AllenGinsberg #GayIcons #GayPoet #GayRights #TransRights #35mmPhoto #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives #PhotoBook #BnWFilm #BlackAndWhitePhotography #HistoricPhotography #VintagePhotographs #PrideHistory #QueerPhotography #LGBTQPhotography
In recent years, homophobic and transphobic violence and legislation has been on the rise in the US. ⁠
The ACLU is currently tracking 490 anti-LGBTQ bills nationally, and in the past month alone Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. These bills allow healthcare providers to deny patients care on the basis of personal beliefs, restrict and prohibit gender affirming healthcare, criminalize transgender people for using public bathrooms that align with their identity, and prohibit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.⁠
⁠
Such extreme laws use LGBTQ+ folks as scapegoats while their right to exist safely in public is chipped away. This reinforces that, despite the progress made by the gay rights movement in the past 60+ years, this is a battle not yet won, and a history that must continue to be taught. ⁠
⁠
That is why MUUS takes the month of June to highlight the historic struggles and celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community, with work from the archive of Fred W. McDarrah. As staff photographer and photo editor at the Village Voice paper, McDarrah photographed the gay rights movement from the Stonewall Uprising and the Mattachine Sip-In, to the struggle against AIDS and government negligence, and everything in between.⁠ We hope the stories and images of LGBTQ+ resistance and joy serve as important lessons and inspirations against the ongoing spate of hatred.⁠
⁠
Above, a color still from one of McDarrah's contact sheets, at NYC's 30th annual Pride celebration in 1999.⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠
⁠
© Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection ⁠
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#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #QueerHistory #PrideHistory #LGBTQHistory #TheVillageVoice #ChristopherStreetLiberationDay #MattachineSociety #GayLiberationFront #Stonewall #StonewallRiots #StonewallInn #StonewallUprising #StonewallRevolution #PrideMarch #NYCPride #NYCPrideParade #GayRights #TransRights #KodakFilm #Kodak #ColorFilm #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives
In recent years, homophobic and transphobic violence and legislation has been on the rise in the US. ⁠ The ACLU is currently tracking 490 anti-LGBTQ bills nationally, and in the past month alone Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. These bills allow healthcare providers to deny patients care on the basis of personal beliefs, restrict and prohibit gender affirming healthcare, criminalize transgender people for using public bathrooms that align with their identity, and prohibit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.⁠ ⁠ Such extreme laws use LGBTQ+ folks as scapegoats while their right to exist safely in public is chipped away. This reinforces that, despite the progress made by the gay rights movement in the past 60+ years, this is a battle not yet won, and a history that must continue to be taught. ⁠ ⁠ That is why MUUS takes the month of June to highlight the historic struggles and celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community, with work from the archive of Fred W. McDarrah. As staff photographer and photo editor at the Village Voice paper, McDarrah photographed the gay rights movement from the Stonewall Uprising and the Mattachine Sip-In, to the struggle against AIDS and government negligence, and everything in between.⁠ We hope the stories and images of LGBTQ+ resistance and joy serve as important lessons and inspirations against the ongoing spate of hatred.⁠ ⁠ Above, a color still from one of McDarrah's contact sheets, at NYC's 30th annual Pride celebration in 1999.⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠ ⁠ © Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #QueerHistory #PrideHistory #LGBTQHistory #TheVillageVoice #ChristopherStreetLiberationDay #MattachineSociety #GayLiberationFront #Stonewall #StonewallRiots #StonewallInn #StonewallUprising #StonewallRevolution #PrideMarch #NYCPride #NYCPrideParade #GayRights #TransRights #KodakFilm #Kodak #ColorFilm #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives
⁠97 years ago today, Norma Jean Mortenson came into the world.⁠
⁠
Mortenson, later to become American icon Marilyn Monroe, would skyrocket to fame and become a seemingly permanent fixture in the national imagination. Monroe has at this point surpassed her status as a mere Hollywood sex symbol; she has become a deeply beloved persona in popular culture, film, and literature, conflated with a variety of values and themes from freedom to exploitation, romance to isolation, the American dream to American tragedy.⁠
⁠
We remember her here as a bright-eyed ingenue, early in her career and recently embracing her trademark light blonde locks. She is photographed on Tobay Beach on Long Island, NY, in 1949 by Hungarian-American photographer André de Dienes, with whom she had a working relationship through the late 1940s and early '50s.⁠
⁠.⁠
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DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠.⁠
⁠
© André de Dienes/MUUS Collection⁠
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#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AndreDeDienes #MarilynMonroe #HappyBirthdayMarilyn #NormaJean #NormaJeane #NormaJeaneBaker #NormaJeaneMortenson #GoldenAgeOfHollywood #MarilynMonroeCollection #Marilyn #ColorFilm #ColorFilmPhotography #MediumFormatFilm #MediumFormatPhotography #NormaJeaneDougherty #HungarianAmerican #HungarianAmericanArtist #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoLibrary #PhotoArchives #VintagePhotographs #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #ContemporaryFineArt #photographyprint
⁠97 years ago today, Norma Jean Mortenson came into the world.⁠ ⁠ Mortenson, later to become American icon Marilyn Monroe, would skyrocket to fame and become a seemingly permanent fixture in the national imagination. Monroe has at this point surpassed her status as a mere Hollywood sex symbol; she has become a deeply beloved persona in popular culture, film, and literature, conflated with a variety of values and themes from freedom to exploitation, romance to isolation, the American dream to American tragedy.⁠ ⁠ We remember her here as a bright-eyed ingenue, early in her career and recently embracing her trademark light blonde locks. She is photographed on Tobay Beach on Long Island, NY, in 1949 by Hungarian-American photographer André de Dienes, with whom she had a working relationship through the late 1940s and early '50s.⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠.⁠ ⁠ © André de Dienes/MUUS Collection⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AndreDeDienes #MarilynMonroe #HappyBirthdayMarilyn #NormaJean #NormaJeane #NormaJeaneBaker #NormaJeaneMortenson #GoldenAgeOfHollywood #MarilynMonroeCollection #Marilyn #ColorFilm #ColorFilmPhotography #MediumFormatFilm #MediumFormatPhotography #NormaJeaneDougherty #HungarianAmerican #HungarianAmericanArtist #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoLibrary #PhotoArchives #VintagePhotographs #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #ContemporaryFineArt #photographyprint
In 1996, Fred McDarrah published "Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today", not only a photobook but a record of the gay rights movement in New York City from the Stonewall Riots and onward. The first of three introductions to the book is by Allen Ginsberg, who McDarrah photographed many times over the years. In it, he reflects on his friend's involvement as a photographer of the movement: ⁠
"He's paid humble attention year after year to his beat- -curious intersection of journeyman journalist & cultural archivist. He has soulful instinct from human ground under his special subjects, Though not gay, a hard laboring family man himself, he's made photo records of gay parades for decades--sign of a real artist's inquisitive sympathy, intelligent democracy."⁠
⁠
Above, a view of a damaged jukebox and cigarette machine, along with a broken chair, inside the Stonewall Inn after the uprising over the week of June 27, 1969, which led to the formation of the modern gay rights movement in the United States. ⁠
⁠
Stay tuned this month as we share images published in this book as well as those previously unseen by the public, in honor of Pride 2023!⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠
⁠
© Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection⁠
.⁠
.⁠
#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #Photobook #QueerHistory #GayPride #StonewallUprising #StonewallRiots #StonewallRevolution #AllenGinsberg #GayIcons #GayPoet #GayRights #TransRights #35mmPhoto #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives #PhotoBook #BnWFilm #BlackAndWhitePhotography #HistoricPhotography #VintagePhotographs #PrideHistory #QueerPhotography #LGBTQPhotography
In 1996, Fred McDarrah published "Gay Pride: Photographs from Stonewall to Today", not only a photobook but a record of the gay rights movement in New York City from the Stonewall Riots and onward. The first of three introductions to the book is by Allen Ginsberg, who McDarrah photographed many times over the years. In it, he reflects on his friend's involvement as a photographer of the movement: ⁠ "He's paid humble attention year after year to his beat- -curious intersection of journeyman journalist & cultural archivist. He has soulful instinct from human ground under his special subjects, Though not gay, a hard laboring family man himself, he's made photo records of gay parades for decades--sign of a real artist's inquisitive sympathy, intelligent democracy."⁠ ⁠ Above, a view of a damaged jukebox and cigarette machine, along with a broken chair, inside the Stonewall Inn after the uprising over the week of June 27, 1969, which led to the formation of the modern gay rights movement in the United States. ⁠ ⁠ Stay tuned this month as we share images published in this book as well as those previously unseen by the public, in honor of Pride 2023!⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠ ⁠ © Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #Photobook #QueerHistory #GayPride #StonewallUprising #StonewallRiots #StonewallRevolution #AllenGinsberg #GayIcons #GayPoet #GayRights #TransRights #35mmPhoto #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives #PhotoBook #BnWFilm #BlackAndWhitePhotography #HistoricPhotography #VintagePhotographs #PrideHistory #QueerPhotography #LGBTQPhotography
In recent years, homophobic and transphobic violence and legislation has been on the rise in the US. ⁠
The ACLU is currently tracking 490 anti-LGBTQ bills nationally, and in the past month alone Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. These bills allow healthcare providers to deny patients care on the basis of personal beliefs, restrict and prohibit gender affirming healthcare, criminalize transgender people for using public bathrooms that align with their identity, and prohibit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.⁠
⁠
Such extreme laws use LGBTQ+ folks as scapegoats while their right to exist safely in public is chipped away. This reinforces that, despite the progress made by the gay rights movement in the past 60+ years, this is a battle not yet won, and a history that must continue to be taught. ⁠
⁠
That is why MUUS takes the month of June to highlight the historic struggles and celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community, with work from the archive of Fred W. McDarrah. As staff photographer and photo editor at the Village Voice paper, McDarrah photographed the gay rights movement from the Stonewall Uprising and the Mattachine Sip-In, to the struggle against AIDS and government negligence, and everything in between.⁠ We hope the stories and images of LGBTQ+ resistance and joy serve as important lessons and inspirations against the ongoing spate of hatred.⁠
⁠
Above, a color still from one of McDarrah's contact sheets, at NYC's 30th annual Pride celebration in 1999.⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠
⁠
© Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection ⁠
.⁠
.⁠
#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #QueerHistory #PrideHistory #LGBTQHistory #TheVillageVoice #ChristopherStreetLiberationDay #MattachineSociety #GayLiberationFront #Stonewall #StonewallRiots #StonewallInn #StonewallUprising #StonewallRevolution #PrideMarch #NYCPride #NYCPrideParade #GayRights #TransRights #KodakFilm #Kodak #ColorFilm #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives
In recent years, homophobic and transphobic violence and legislation has been on the rise in the US. ⁠ The ACLU is currently tracking 490 anti-LGBTQ bills nationally, and in the past month alone Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. These bills allow healthcare providers to deny patients care on the basis of personal beliefs, restrict and prohibit gender affirming healthcare, criminalize transgender people for using public bathrooms that align with their identity, and prohibit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.⁠ ⁠ Such extreme laws use LGBTQ+ folks as scapegoats while their right to exist safely in public is chipped away. This reinforces that, despite the progress made by the gay rights movement in the past 60+ years, this is a battle not yet won, and a history that must continue to be taught. ⁠ ⁠ That is why MUUS takes the month of June to highlight the historic struggles and celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community, with work from the archive of Fred W. McDarrah. As staff photographer and photo editor at the Village Voice paper, McDarrah photographed the gay rights movement from the Stonewall Uprising and the Mattachine Sip-In, to the struggle against AIDS and government negligence, and everything in between.⁠ We hope the stories and images of LGBTQ+ resistance and joy serve as important lessons and inspirations against the ongoing spate of hatred.⁠ ⁠ Above, a color still from one of McDarrah's contact sheets, at NYC's 30th annual Pride celebration in 1999.⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠ ⁠ © Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #PrideMonth #Pride2023 #FredMcDarrah #QueerHistory #PrideHistory #LGBTQHistory #TheVillageVoice #ChristopherStreetLiberationDay #MattachineSociety #GayLiberationFront #Stonewall #StonewallRiots #StonewallInn #StonewallUprising #StonewallRevolution #PrideMarch #NYCPride #NYCPrideParade #GayRights #TransRights #KodakFilm #Kodak #ColorFilm #FromTheArchive #Archives #ArchivesOfInstagram #VintagePhoto #PhotographyArchive #QueerArchives
⁠97 years ago today, Norma Jean Mortenson came into the world.⁠
⁠
Mortenson, later to become American icon Marilyn Monroe, would skyrocket to fame and become a seemingly permanent fixture in the national imagination. Monroe has at this point surpassed her status as a mere Hollywood sex symbol; she has become a deeply beloved persona in popular culture, film, and literature, conflated with a variety of values and themes from freedom to exploitation, romance to isolation, the American dream to American tragedy.⁠
⁠
We remember her here as a bright-eyed ingenue, early in her career and recently embracing her trademark light blonde locks. She is photographed on Tobay Beach on Long Island, NY, in 1949 by Hungarian-American photographer André de Dienes, with whom she had a working relationship through the late 1940s and early '50s.⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠.⁠
⁠
© André de Dienes/MUUS Collection⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
.⁠
#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AndreDeDienes #MarilynMonroe #HappyBirthdayMarilyn #NormaJean #NormaJeane #NormaJeaneBaker #NormaJeaneMortenson #GoldenAgeOfHollywood #MarilynMonroeCollection #Marilyn #ColorFilm #ColorFilmPhotography #MediumFormatFilm #MediumFormatPhotography #NormaJeaneDougherty #HungarianAmerican #HungarianAmericanArtist #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoLibrary #PhotoArchives #VintagePhotographs #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #ContemporaryFineArt #photographyprint
⁠97 years ago today, Norma Jean Mortenson came into the world.⁠ ⁠ Mortenson, later to become American icon Marilyn Monroe, would skyrocket to fame and become a seemingly permanent fixture in the national imagination. Monroe has at this point surpassed her status as a mere Hollywood sex symbol; she has become a deeply beloved persona in popular culture, film, and literature, conflated with a variety of values and themes from freedom to exploitation, romance to isolation, the American dream to American tragedy.⁠ ⁠ We remember her here as a bright-eyed ingenue, early in her career and recently embracing her trademark light blonde locks. She is photographed on Tobay Beach on Long Island, NY, in 1949 by Hungarian-American photographer André de Dienes, with whom she had a working relationship through the late 1940s and early '50s.⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠.⁠ ⁠ © André de Dienes/MUUS Collection⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AndreDeDienes #MarilynMonroe #HappyBirthdayMarilyn #NormaJean #NormaJeane #NormaJeaneBaker #NormaJeaneMortenson #GoldenAgeOfHollywood #MarilynMonroeCollection #Marilyn #ColorFilm #ColorFilmPhotography #MediumFormatFilm #MediumFormatPhotography #NormaJeaneDougherty #HungarianAmerican #HungarianAmericanArtist #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoLibrary #PhotoArchives #VintagePhotographs #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #ContemporaryFineArt #photographyprint
Now introducing #StaffPickSundays! Each month, a staff member here at MUUS will make selections from the archive and share what fascinates them about that work. This month's Staff Pick comes from Amanda Smith, MUUS’s Director of Archives...⁠
⁠
"In 1950 only 9 percent of American households owned a television; by 1960 90 percent did. The impact of having immediate access to contemporary events and culture in the household was unrivaled by any other invention to date. Magazines like Popular Science urged viewers—particularly men--to make a hobby of photographing their televisions and scrapbooking images of celebrities, sports, and historical events. (Although the practice sounds odd in the present day, collecting images of celebrities and politicians in personal albums was commonplace by the 1860s.) As Kim Beil notes in her book “Good Pictures,” the practice was marketed as a skillful activity to “recreate the thrill of street photography while still getting guaranteed shots of well-known personalities.”⁠
⁠
On November 25, 1963, photographer Alfred Wertheimer and 93 percent of American televisions were tuned to the funeral procession for President John F. Kennedy marking it as the most important moment in television history to this day. The news coverage provided an access point for the nation to mourn together. Scenes from the footage—such as Jackie Kennedy veiled in black and “John-John” saluting his father’s coffin—are imprinted on the collective memory of Americans. Through a 21st century lens however, these images—showing the screen’s rounded corners and the scanlines of the era’s cathode ray tube(CRT)—instill both a curious sense of nostalgia as well as an appreciation for eerie images produced by bygone technologies."⁠
.⁠
.⁠
⁠.⁠
.⁠
DM  or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠
⁠
© Alfred Wertheimer/MUUS Collection ⁠
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#MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AlfredWertheimer #JohnFKennedy #JFK #JFKFuneral #JackieKennedy #JacquelineOnassisKennedy #JackieO #LeeHarveyOswald #JackRuby #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoArchives #ArtDiscovery #PreservingHistory #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #BnWFilm
Now introducing #StaffPickSundays! Each month, a staff member here at MUUS will make selections from the archive and share what fascinates them about that work. This month's Staff Pick comes from Amanda Smith, MUUS’s Director of Archives...⁠ ⁠ "In 1950 only 9 percent of American households owned a television; by 1960 90 percent did. The impact of having immediate access to contemporary events and culture in the household was unrivaled by any other invention to date. Magazines like Popular Science urged viewers—particularly men--to make a hobby of photographing their televisions and scrapbooking images of celebrities, sports, and historical events. (Although the practice sounds odd in the present day, collecting images of celebrities and politicians in personal albums was commonplace by the 1860s.) As Kim Beil notes in her book “Good Pictures,” the practice was marketed as a skillful activity to “recreate the thrill of street photography while still getting guaranteed shots of well-known personalities.”⁠ ⁠ On November 25, 1963, photographer Alfred Wertheimer and 93 percent of American televisions were tuned to the funeral procession for President John F. Kennedy marking it as the most important moment in television history to this day. The news coverage provided an access point for the nation to mourn together. Scenes from the footage—such as Jackie Kennedy veiled in black and “John-John” saluting his father’s coffin—are imprinted on the collective memory of Americans. Through a 21st century lens however, these images—showing the screen’s rounded corners and the scanlines of the era’s cathode ray tube(CRT)—instill both a curious sense of nostalgia as well as an appreciation for eerie images produced by bygone technologies."⁠ .⁠ .⁠ ⁠.⁠ .⁠ DM or email us for more information on availability and licensing⁠ ⁠ © Alfred Wertheimer/MUUS Collection ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #MUUSWorkOfTheDay #AlfredWertheimer #JohnFKennedy #JFK #JFKFuneral #JackieKennedy #JacquelineOnassisKennedy #JackieO #LeeHarveyOswald #JackRuby #HistoryOnFilm #PhotographyArchive #AnalogCameras #PhotoArchives #ArtDiscovery #PreservingHistory #PortraitsOnFilm #PhotoHistory #ArchivesOfInstagram #FromTheArchive #BnWFilm