Mandate: Photography Teaching Collection

Housed at the Visual Collections Repository (VCR), the Photography Teaching Collection gathers items related to the history of photography. The objects are selected not for their content, but because they represent a certain photographic process, viewing device or camera model.

The main purpose of this teaching collection is to provide course instructors with a set of objects that they can bring to their classroom for students to see and handle. Students can also make an appointment at the VCR to look at these items in person. The collection was founded on donated items that were already housed in the VCR. Additional donations and purchases help fill any gaps.

In the wake of the digital revolution, this pedagogical tool is intended to assist with the teaching of photographic history by providing access to concrete examples of the medium's evolving physical characteristics.