Photographs

News and stories about photographs in Getty’s collections and exhibitions

Featured

The Man Who Photographed Ghosts

A black and white photograph of a man sitting in a chair with a "ghost" behind him.

Ghost photographer William H. Mumler duped the rich, profited, and got sued

The Personal, Political Photography of Ishiuchi Miyako

A young Japanese woman and man sit together, facing the camera, in a small apartment.

A rare photographic view into women’s history in post-war Japan

Capturing the Feeling of the Ocean on Paper

How an artist-scientist uses cyanotypes to inspire a love of marine life

Latest

  1. Getty Acquires Work by Artist Mercedes Dorame

    A rock covered in abalones.

    The newly acquired works relate directly to the sculptural objects in the Rotunda Commission currently on view until June 16 in the Museum’s Entrance Hall

    Jun 13, 2024

  2. Reframing 19th-Century Photography

    Three images in a line: a photo of a woman dancing, a photo of an artwork featuring a wooden face of a man under a glass dome, and a collage of black and white images and letters

    How artists Stéphanie Solinas, Laura Larson, and Stephanie Syjuco talk back to the archives

    Jun 12, 2024

  3. A Glimpse of Our World as It Could Be

    A woman in a white ensemble with a space-like helmet is floating in the air against a background of clouds, sky, and a peek of trees in the bottom left corner

    How this dreamy photograph shows us that pleasure is a right

    Jun 11, 2024

  4. Getty Acquires Archive of Visionary Photograph Gallerist Peter MacGill

    Photograph of Robert Frank, Harry Callahan, and Peter MacGill in Peter’s office in front of Muhammad Ali poster, 1990s.

    MacGill’s gallery represented masters of photography such as Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Josef Koudelka, Irving Penn, Alfred Stieglitz, and JoAnn Verburg

    May 29, 2024

  5. Made to Fade

    Two photos side by side: the left is a sepia-toned screenshot of a web browser showing a hand facing palm out and the webpage title Artform; on right is of a negative on desk under lamp with red light

    For Phil Chang, the art of these photographs is in their disappearance

    Apr 24, 2024

  6. Photography Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three

    Four women wearing dresses and bonnets sit around a small table in a garden, next to trees and a high stone wall

    How we decided whether it was safe to display 150-year-old photos

    Apr 17, 2024

  7. The 19th-Century Selfie Pioneer

    Two images side by side; both are photographs of a man standing in a garden surrounded by tools and plants

    Before Instagram influencers, there was Hippolyte Bayard

    Apr 09, 2024

  8. Hippolyte Bayard: A Persistent Pioneer

    A sepia-toned photograph of a man standing in front of a gridded trellis with gardening tools to his left. He leans on a rain barrel.

    Exhibition presents an extraordinarily rare opportunity to view some of Bayard’s highly fragile photographs dating from the 1840s

    Apr 04, 2024

  9. Nineteenth-Century Photography Now

    A photograph of an ocean view.

    Explore historical photography through a contemporary lens

    Apr 02, 2024

  10. 25 Teen Photographers Win Getty’s Unshuttered Open Call

    A young boy stands in a beam of light.

    Photographers will receive a prize package that includes an online gallery showcasing their work and an exclusive visit to Getty Center

    Mar 26, 2024