Blog Posts by Subject: Photography

Including genealogy, the performing arts, LGBT studies and more.

Understanding that they, as young people, are historical actors and that their lives are worthy of scholarly analysis can be a profoundly empowering experience.

Our Digital Collections are rich with subway material including a collection of photographs by Alen MacWeeney that capture the quirkiness, diversity, and grittiness of late 1970s New York.

Perhaps some of their projects can support and inspire some of yours as well.

Is that soapy water staring at me? Is that a banana peel or a jaunty old man? These are some of the questions you may encounter when pondering the latest body of work from photographer Ner Beck.

With a Super Blue Blood Moon appearing in the sky on January 31, we look back at an innovative astrophotographer who produced stunning moon photos in 1865.

NYPL's new browser extension shows a curated image of New York City every time you open a new tab. Know where in New York City the photo was taken? With just a few clicks, you can geotag the image and help enhance NYPL's collections.

Feel the need to be wowed by wide open spaces and awe inspiring landscapes? Even if you can't travel out West this summer, artist Yuko K. has brought back a little piece of magic from Monument Valley for your visual enjoyment. We spoke about her recent trip.

One of our librarians, Arieh Ress, started a program called “Picture Yourself Online!” in which he took headshots of patrons so they would have a decent photo of themselves to use online and while job-hunting. I sat down with Arieh and interviewed him about the program we’ve been running for nearly a year now.

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, millions of Americans will head to the polls to elect the next President. Whether this is the first time you’ll cast your ballot, this Presidential election has piqued your interest, The New York Public Library has a robust collection of books, feature films, documentaries, music, and spoken arts just for you.

A prolific amateur photographer and local historian, Hubacher documented New York City and its environs with a seemingly objective eye, the typed or handwritten captions on the verso of each photograph often markedly specific in terms of date and location.

Comparing astrological drawings from our Digital Collections to NASA images—how similar do you think they are?

With the social media initiative #CamerasAndDancers, Jacob Jonas seeks to encourage collaboration and exploration through the mediums of dance and photography, to help shine a new light on the world of dance.

A group of men in suits, sitting in a theater in complete darkness. How was this photo taken?

Portraits greatly influence the way that we perceive ourselves and each other. One could consider black portraiture to be a facet of black aesthetics, in that it centralizes the black image, illustrates a black existence, and thus implies a cultural position.

The language of dance as told by black people through photographs in our Digital Collections.

The plot thickened in 2012, when I began an inventory of the Dance Division's unprocessed materials. A separate section of unprocessed material turned out to be a treasure trove of photographs and albums that had been separated from the collection upon acquisition.

As professional photographers, nothing brings us more pleasure than to be faced with the prints of photographic luminaries and to be able to attend to their translation into the networked landscape. Here are a few highlights from our most beloved encounters with the library’s photo collections that we’ve seen along the way.

Alice Austen was a prolific photographer who lived on Staten Island's North Shore at the turn of the twentieth century. In honor of National Photography Month, let's explore her life and photography. We will also explore Austen's house, Clear Comfort, which is now a National Historic Landmark and serves as a museum and resource center.