When we travel to our favorite vacation and tourist destinations, we think nothing of bringing back photographs of our adventures. Traveling to even remote areas is relatively easy compared to 19th century photographers who traveled the world for months laden with bulky and cumbersome equipment to bring back images that changed the way the public perceived their world.

19th-century travel photography captured distant lands and cultures, often presented as objective records, but also reflecting the artistic, political, and scientific values of the photographers and those who commissioned them. While initially focusing on landscapes and architecture, the development of photography coincided with increased tourism, allowing for more accessible documentation of travel experiences. 

This presentation, with our expert speaker Rollin Fraser, will look at how travelers enthusiastically adopted photography shortly after its invention in 1839. Despite the difficulties that accompanied the early processes, the camera's ability to reproduce the world with amazing detail and apparent veracity prompted growing numbers of amateur and professional photographers to take cameras on their travels.