The Changing Medium of Photography

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The Changing Medium of Photography

For nearly 200 years, both commercially-motivated and artistically-minded photographers have had a deep fascination with New York City’s built environment. Photography could provide the factual documentation needed by architects, builders, and city planners, as in John Reid’s large-format photograph of the then-new railroad bridge crossing the Harlem River at Fourth Avenue, made around 1870. And throughout the 20th century, New York’s mix of historic structures and newly high-rising buildings also provided a dynamic and constantly changing set of visual explorations, as witnessed by the views of the Brooklyn Bridge by Alexander Alland (c. 1930), Jan Lukas (1964), and Bruce Cratsley (1983).

The selection of photographs on view here also provides insight into the changing medium. Although photographic image-making has been around since 1839, the physical form that an image takes has been constantly changing. This is due in part to evolving technologies and scientific breakthroughs, and sometimes also to aesthetic decisions.

Learn more about the history and qualities of the various processes in this section and throughout the gallery through these videos produced by the George Eastman Museum:

Albumen Print 

Run time: 4:33 min

Gelatin Silver Print 

Run time: 7:31 min 

Platinum Print 

Run time: 3:38 min 

Color Photography

Run time: 6:00 min 

Digital Photography

Run time: 5:29 min 

Videos courtesy of the George Eastman Museum 

Forman Hanna
Untitled [Tugboats in front of the Brooklyn Bridge], c. 1947
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.188