Photographs
About
The Department of Photographs was established in 1984 with the acquisition of several of the most important private collections in the world, including those of Bruno Bischofberger, Arnold Crane, Volker Kahmen/Georg Heusch, and Samuel Wagstaff, Jr. Through a continuing program of acquisitions by purchase and donation, the Getty Museum has assembled the finest and most comprehensive corpus of photographs on the West Coast.
The collection is particularly rich in works dating from the time of photography’s invention in England and France in the late 1830s and early 1840s. International in scope, it encompasses substantial holdings by some of the most significant makers of the 19th through the 21st centuries active in Europe, the United States, South America, Asia, and Africa.
Photographs are sensitive to light and cannot be kept on permanent display. Rotating exhibitions drawn from the collection and supplemented by loans are on view in the galleries of the Center for Photographs at the Getty Center.
Highlights
(Lace)
William Henry Fox Talbot
×ばつ 7 3/8 in. Getty Museum, 2003.495" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/dd052675-f3a0-4948-90a4-c5372cbe0cfd" uid="blt9553b60702ce4de0">Photo print of a lace design with leaves and flowersThe Crystal Palace at Hyde Park, London
John Jabez Edwin Mayall
×ばつ 9 11/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XT.955" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/fcdf8742-a837-4a69-a93a-63a3ad4a2346" uid="blt347dbd8f38cdc97d">Photo print of the Crystal Palace with a fountain, a tree, statues, and peoplePierrot à la corbeille de fruits
Adrien Alban Tournachon
×ばつ 8 in. Getty Museum, 2023.15" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/1bcc017c-9481-46d9-9798-7df037d0d725" uid="blt1beef69f3a5fd32f">19th century photograph of Pierrot the clown holding a fruit basketJ.F.W. Herschel
Julia Margaret Cameron
×ばつ 10 3/4 in. Getty Museum, 84.XM.349.3" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/d59672e3-eeb1-4013-8f30-21094f7aa643" uid="blt685a45641b6d01ec">Photo portrait of a stern looking man[Seated Woman]
Kusakabe Kimbei
×ばつ 8 1/16 in. Getty Museum, 84.XA.700.4.12" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/dc6dadd3-2152-4187-b63b-668600fffd01" uid="bltbe5ac7adc31a09d6">19th century photographic portrait of an elegantly dressed woman in a kimono holding a fan in her lapHat and Gloves
ringl + pit [Ellen Auerbach and Grete Stern]
×ばつ 9 3/4 in. Getty Museum, 84.XM.154.15. © Estate of Ellen Auerbach and Estate of Grete Stern" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/ca687848-6d20-4d4c-ba76-a02cea0676ee" uid="blt3a6efb9163a22546">Black and white artistic photograph of a mannequin head with a knitted hat and a pair of gloves crisscrossed in front of itChicago
Harry Callahan
×ばつ 9 15/16 in. Getty Museum, 2022.174.18. © Estate of Harry Callahan" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/1591d698-bb9d-41d5-877c-37376629bcbe" uid="bltbeaa46b326ad48f1">Black and white photograph of a snow covered landscape with bare treesAura
Ruth Bernhard
×ばつ 9 7/16 in. Getty Museum, 2017.127.1. Reproduced with permission of The Ruth Bernhard Archive, Princeton University Art Museum. © Trustees of Princeton University" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/73b5cf79-250c-4768-990a-b3754de3dc80" uid="bltde6db69bbe49dc0e">Black and white photograph of the outline of a figure with hands up overlaying a burst of light coming through tree branchesWatts, Los Angeles
Anthony Barboza
×ばつ 23 1/8 in. Getty Museum, 2021.40.6. © Anthony Barboza" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/24245888-f699-4816-a5ff-291fc3c42b5d" uid="bltbc3b0e56d23cce39">Black and white photograph of a group of teens walking on a sidewalk along a white wallCuración, Juchitán, Oaxaca
Graciela Iturbide
×ばつ 12 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 2007.65.9. © Graciela Iturbide" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/023eae06-522a-4f72-97f0-a1e1d5c88261" uid="blte663765b112f34b2">Black and white photograph of an old woman seated with her hands on the head of a girlひろしま/hiroshima #69 (Abe Hatsuko)
Ishiuchi Miyako
×ばつ 29 1/8 in. Getty Museum, 2015.23.1. © Ishiuchi Miyako" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/3ca84a8f-b48e-4f01-aba3-f923283fa2d9" uid="blte0740cf36eb2a785">Photograph of a ghostly blouse with black polka-dots and dark brown stainsJet Blue #23
Mickalene Thomas
×ばつ 56 11/16 in. Getty Museum, 2022.13. © Mickalene Thomas" credit="" mediagatewayurl="https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/2e03790b-20ca-48a0-9ebf-b93b2f405560" uid="blt0745076f7533ff78">Photo collage of a nude woman reclining and looking at the camera
Recent Acquisitions
Resources
In Dialogue
Project
×ばつ 51 1/2 ×ばつ 3 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 77.PA.87<br> Right: *Portrait of Qusuquzah*, negative 2008; print 2014, Mickalene Thomas. Chromogenic print, 70 1/4 ×ばつ 56 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 2021.46.1. © Mickalene Thomas" captionandcredit="Left: *Portrait of Madame Bonnier de la Mosson as Diana (Constance-Gabrielle-Magdeleine du Monciel de Lauraille)*, 1742, Jean-Marc Nattier. Oil on canvas, framed: 64 1/4 ×ばつ 51 1/2 ×ばつ 3 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 77.PA.87<br> Right: *Portrait of Qusuquzah*, negative 2008; print 2014, Mickalene Thomas. Chromogenic print, 70 1/4 ×ばつ 56 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 2021.46.1. © Mickalene Thomas" contenttype="image" credit="" uid="blt2be081466af84b53">Gallery view of a portrait painting of a woman to the left and a portrait photograph of another woman to the rightInstallation series inviting visitors to see the Getty Museum’s historic and contemporary collections in a new light
Scholarly Essays
Publication
Painting of wispy clouds with online book title "Scholarly Essays"Deeper Dives into Objects from the J. Paul Getty Museum Collection
The Wet Collodion Process
Video
Close-up of a photographic positive of an elderly long-haired bearded man being removed from its negative(opens in new tab)The wet collodion photographic process produced a glass negative and a beautifully detailed print
Early Photography: Making Daguerreotypes
Video
A double framed daguerreotype shows a red-toned vase to the left and an empty frame to the right(opens in new tab)Although primarily a nineteenth-century medium involving a painstaking process, daguerreotypy is still practiced today
Hippolyte Bayard's Direct Positive Process
Video
A man crouches under black fabric to take a photograph using a 19th century camera(opens in new tab)Watch and learn about one of the world’s earliest photographic processes, which Bayard invented
Stories from the Collection
Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows
(opens in new tab)×ばつ 54.6 cm (15 9/16 ×ばつ 21 1/2 in.). 2009.96.11. The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Ishiuchi Miyako" captionandcredit="1·9·4·7 #61, 1994, Ishiuchi Miyako (Japanese, born 1947). Gelatin silver print; 39.5 ×ばつ 54.6 cm (15 9/16 ×ばつ 21 1/2 in.). 2009.96.11. The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Ishiuchi Miyako. 1·9·4·7 #61, 1994, Ishiuchi Miyako (Japanese, born 1947). Gelatin silver print; 39.5 ×ばつ 54.6 cm (15 9/16 ×ばつ 21 1/2 in.). 2009.96.11. The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Ishiuchi Miyako" contenttype="image" credit="1·9·4·7 #61, 1994, Ishiuchi Miyako (Japanese, born 1947). Gelatin silver print; 39.5 ×ばつ 54.6 cm (15 9/16 ×ばつ 21 1/2 in.). 2009.96.11. The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Ishiuchi Miyako" uid="blt111ffd5b99df116e">Ishiuchi Miyako GA&C promoContemporary Voices in Asian American Photography
(opens in new tab)×ばつ 44 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 2015.3. Purchased with funds provided by the Photographs Council" captionandcredit="*After Electric Dress A Positive 4*, negatives, 2001; prints 2002, Kunié Sugiura. Gelatin silver prints, toned (4 panels), 68 1/2 ×ばつ 44 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 2015.3. Purchased with funds provided by the Photographs Council" contenttype="image" credit="" uid="blt918b24aca29c1d05">Composite photo of a person in silhouette, wearing a dress made of stringed lightsRadical Whimsy: Victorian Women and the Art of Photocollage
(opens in new tab)A fantastical art studio created using a mix of photo cut-outs and drawings in sepia ink features a man sculpting a woman and an elephant head coming out of a canvasEarly Mexican Photography
(opens in new tab)A black and white photograph of a man sitting in between two women. The photograph has a gilt, filigreedA Historic Black Rights Protest
(opens in new tab)×ばつ 2 1/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 84.XT.1582.5" captionandcredit="*Fugitive Slave Law Convention, Cazenovia, New York*, 1850, Ezra Greenleaf Weld. Daguerreotype, 2 5/8 ×ばつ 2 1/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 84.XT.1582.5" contenttype="image" credit="" uid="blt32e7680303978809">Open case with red velvet on one side and a black and white image of people gathered around a podium on the other
Get In Touch
Contact
Study Room
Photographs in the collection that are not on display are available for viewing in the Photographs Study Room, which is open by appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to researchers, students, and the interested public.
Please note: The photographs you wish to examine may be on loan and not available for viewing. Therefore, before making an appointment, please contact us to discuss your area of interest.
To investigate the nature of our holdings:
Browse photographs in the collection database.
Consult the book Photographers of Genius at the Getty.
Consult a list of all makers whose work is represented in the collection.Please contact us at least two weeks in advance of your desired visit to request an appointment. Call (310) 440-6589 or e-mail photographs@getty.edu for more details.
The Study Room is closed the month of August and the week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Ordering Images
Digital images of many public domain photographs in the collection are available for download, without charge, under Getty’s Open Content Program.
Open content images may be used for any purpose; no permission is required.
To request permission to reproduce all other images from the Museum's collection, please see Ordering and Reproducing Images.
Submissions Review
The Department of Photographs does not review individual portfolios or accept unsolicited artist submissions.
Appraisals
Museum staff are prohibited from offering appraisals, valuations, or authentication of works of art. These should be carried out by a certified appraiser or reputable auction house.
In accordance with IRS regulations governing charitable institutions such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, curatorial staff may not advise on the value of donations to the Museum collection for tax purposes. However, they can make objects available for appraisal upon the donor’s request.
If a signature is needed for IRS form 8283, the donor should send the form to registrar@getty.edu. The registrar will use the date the gift was approved for acceptance into the collection as the date the donated property was received.
Loan Requests
For information about borrowing J. Paul Getty Museum objects, please see the Guidelines for Requesting Loans of Art Objects.
Staff Directory
James Ganz
Senior Curator, Department Head
Reena Antonishak
Collections Associate
Olivia Chuba
Administrative Assistant
Mazie Harris
Associate Curator
Virginia Heckert
Curator
Arpad Kovacs
Associate Curator
Claire L'Heureux
Curatorial Assistant
Gabriela Macias
Curatorial Assistant
Paul Martineau
Curator
Carolyn Peter
Assistant Curator
Julieta Pestarino
Assistant Curator