From nineteenth-century daguerreotypes to twenty-first-century selfies, portraiture has dominated the medium of photography.

Drawn from ICP’s collection, this exhibition surveys the nuanced ways people present themselves for the camera, how and by whom they are represented, and who is deemed worthy of commemoration. This selection includes studio portraits, snapshots, and documentary photographs. From a deathbed daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes and a cart-de-visite featuring Sojourner Truth holding her knitting to Samuel Fosso’s performative self-portraits and FBI wanted posters, every portrait serves a different purpose.

Each one offers the opportunity to investigate the ways photography shapes our ideas about ourselves and others. Curated by Erin Barnett, director of exhibitions and collections, and Claartje van Dijk, assistant curator, collections.