The Photography Collection

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The Art Gallery of Ontario is dedicated to building a collection of photographs that reflects the artistic, historical, and social impact of the medium. With over 70,000 objects, the collection spans the history of photography from the 1840s to the present day.

Along with key works by renowned figures in the field, the holdings also include in-depth collections of work by such artists as Linnaeus Tripe, Robert Flaherty, Josef Sudek, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Henryk Ross, Arnold Newman, Diane Arbus, Michel Lambeth, Garry Winogrand, Suzy Lake, and Edward Burtynsky.

The collection also includes significant holdings of press photographs, pop photographica, and photographic albums that highlight the key roles photographs have played in our visual culture to relay events, act as keepsakes, and create visual narratives. Notable among these holdings are the group of 495 albums from the World War I era, assembled by soldiers, nurses and survivors, and the Casa Susanna collection, snapshots of cross dressers in the 1950s and 1960s.

The photography gallery rotates every four months to feature the evolution of the medium and its diverse uses through the strengths of the collection.