UMMA’s first photographs to enter the collection by accident in 1940. Then…. Nothing. The museum wouldn’t intentionally collect another photograph until 1971.

Fast forward to today, and photography is one of UMMA’s fastest-growing areas, filled with powerful recent acquisitions by artists such as Catherine Opie, Ming Smith, Jess T. Dugan, Jarod Lew, Brian Adams, Stephanie Syjuco, and others.   For this special Subject Matters event, UMMA Curator Dave Choberka and Interim Chief Curator and Associate Curator of Photography Jennifer Friess will bring visitors into UMMA’s study room—an intimate space used for teaching and research—to get up close with photographs pulled directly from collection storage. Over this 90-minutes session, you’ll learn the story behind UMMA’s earliest photography “oopsies” and have a chance to compare them with the bold contemporary works shaping the collection today.

Free and open to the public - registration required.