Princeton University Library Publishes Reflections on Photographing Princeton

Reflections on Photographing Princeton: An Essay to Accompany an Exhibition at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, 15 August 1998-30 June 1999 by Melissa A. Johnson has recently been published by the Princeton University Library.  The 57-page catalog, illustrated by 18 photographs from as early as the 1840s, chronicles the reception and uses of photography by Princeton faculty and students from 1839 to the mid-twentieth century.

Johnson effectively mixes documentary sources that show the reaction on campus to the new medium with a strong understanding of the relevant literature on campus photography during the first century of the medium's use.  She describes the initial reaction to the new medium, its application by scientists like Joseph Henry, its use to classify people, and the rise of professional photographers and then large firms that specialized in campus photography.  Later Johnson explicates early student photography and its spread in the 1890s thanks to Kodak, the rise of local photographers who replaced the itinerant national firms in the twentieth century, and the development of student photographic agencies, clubs, and photo journalism on campus.

Further information is available at: http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/exhibit.

Johnson's volume may be obtained by sending $5 to the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University, 65 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08544.  The price includes postage and handling.