Browse Items (76 total)

Did the Kodak camera make it possible to record emotion? Photographers could capture emotions easily with shorter exposure times with Kodak film cameras introduced in 1888. The subsequent craze for smiling images taken outdoors can be summed up in…

After the Civil War, William A. Henderson practiced law in Knoxville and served as a judge prior to joining the Southern Railway in 1894 as assistant counsel. Living in Washington, D.C., and in Knoxville, he worked for the 1896-97 Tennessee…

Seen with her long hair down and wearing a loose wrapper, this woman, possibly Alva Vanderbilt, stares directly at the viewer/photographer. Is this room a boudoir? Her clothing and pose suggest that this is a private, relaxed moment, as does the…

An avid sailor, Gertrude and a friend pose in costume, possibly at a Vanderbilt party in Newport or Palm Beach. After her marriage in 1933 to Harold S. Vanderbilt (“Mike” to friends and family), Gertie sailed as one of the few women allowed on board…

After her marriage in 1933 to Harold S. Vanderbilt (“Mike” to friends and family), Gertie sailed as one of the few women allowed on board racing J-class yachts in the 1930s. Aboard Rainbow in 1937, the couple successfully defended the America’s Cup…

Architectural portraits of medieval buildings often popularize restorations. When Victor Hugo made the cathedral famous in his novel, Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), he described a building that had been badly damaged during the French Revolution. It was…

In June 1900, anti-western riots in Peking and the 54-day siege of foreign embassies by Chinese militants made headlines. In this image of the foreigners' quarter, Ketteler Street has been renamed for the murdered German Minister Clemens von…

James Ricalton photographed sites, survivors, and daily life in October 1900 in Peking after the rebellion for Underwood & Underwood. Troops posted in Peking found distractions at the YMCA with games, coffee, lunch, and books. The Y provided similar…

James Ricalton wrote of being the first westerner inside the Imperial City. He described the palace as “empty of nearly all portable articles” after the looting by Allied troops and missionaries. Ricalton wanted armchair travelers to experience "the…

Stereographers often structured their images around a human in the foreground so viewers focused on a vanishing point. This allowed viewers to feel as if they were in the depths of the picture.