Infinite Light: Photography from the Hunter Museum Collection

Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, the Hunter Museum is pleased to showcase a portion of its growing photography collection, including new acquisitions from the past year. Infinite Light offers an overview of work by American photographers from the late 19th to the 21st century, reflecting a segment of the Hunter’s permanent collection and highlighting photography's development as a respected art form.

The widespread availability of cameras, photography, and film in the early 20th century radically changed how Americans saw themselves in society, shared news, and captured important moments in their lives. This shift reflects a change in how people thought about photography, from a scientific tool for documentation to an art form that enables widespread creativity. The further development of digital photography has enabled not only more spontaneous images but also easier editing, making it a democratizing force in the art world.

The works on view are organized into groupings that address the landscape, historic moments captured on film, the built environment, abstraction, and depictions of the human form. They illustrate how American photography captures the beauty of the human condition, from the sophisticated to the mundane, and prompt reflection on what we, as a culture, value through the images we capture.