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"The Lives and Work of Helmut and Alison Gernsheim"

Presented by Harry Ransom Center at Harry Ransom Center

October 19, 2010

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J. B. Colson, Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Fellow of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, and Roy Flukinger, Ransom Center Senior Research Curator, discuss the lives and work of Helmut and Alison Gernsheim on Tuesday, October 19, at 7 p.m.

This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition Discovering the Language of Photography: The Gernsheim Collection, on display through January 2, and the release of the book The Gernsheim Collection.

Drawn from the peerless collection of Helmut and Alison Gernsheim, the exhibition features masterpieces from photography’s first 150 years, alongside other images that, while lesser known, are integral to the medium’s history. Highlights include the first photograph (on permanent display at the Ransom Center); works by nineteenth-century masters such as Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Henry Peach Robinson; and iconic images by modern photographers such as Man Ray, Robert Capa, Edward Weston, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The book includes more than 125 full-page plates from the collection, accompanied by descriptions of each image's place in the evolution of photography and within the collection. The catalog also traces the Gernsheims' passion for collecting and their career as pioneering historians of photography, showing how their efforts significantly contributed to the acceptance of photography as a fine art and as a field worthy of intellectual study.

A book signing of The Gernsheim Collection follows.

Please be aware that the Ransom Center’s Charles Nelson Prothro Theater has limited seating. Line forms upon arrival of the first person, and doors open 30 minutes in advance. This program will be webcast live at www.hrc.utexas.edu/webcast.