Today it is easy to assume that playing with and in front of the camera is something new, but play has been captured in pictures as long as photography has existed. Since the nineteenth century, photographs have depicted people enjoying themselves—playing with dolls or a game of chess, riding bicycles, frolicking on the beach. This rotation of photographs from the museum’s collection demonstrates that play is as essential a theme in the medium’s history as it is in our lives. The selection includes works by Clarence H. White (American, 1871–1925) and Evan Baden (American, b. Saudi Arabia, b. 1985) that illustrate the impact of technology on gaming, photographs by Helen Levitt (American, 1913-2009) and Terry Evans (American, b. 1944) that portray pastimes in urban and rural environments, and pictures by Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006) and Aaron Siskind (American, 1903–1991) that present scenes inside places dedicated to diversion. Generously sponsored by St. John’s.
Selections from the Collection
April 2, 2021–October 3, 2021
George Eastman Museum
900 East Avenue, Rochester
New York 14607, United States
