This program is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Please register to secure your place by emailing umma-program-registration@umich.edu. Please include date and title of program in the subject line of your email.

Journey to 19th century Victorian Britain with exhibition curator Carole McNamara to explore the ways in which early photography captured the themes and interests of the period. While there was heated debate as to whether photography belonged in the sciences as a research aid or whether its pictorial qualities merited its inclusion in the arts, this exhibition focuses on photographs that captured aspects of British society in ways that are poetic and artistic. Themes of the period are reflected in the photographers' interests, including sentimentality about the remote past, an interest in allegory and literature, and social reform in a newly industrialized society. These photographs demonstrate advances in camera speeds and printing techniques which allowed photographers to capture the picturesque ruins, people, and cities of Victorian England.