The first-ever in-depth examination of cabinet cards. Inexpensive and sold by the dozen, cabinet cards were America’s main format for photographic portraiture through the last three decades of the 19th century, just prior to the introduction of the snapshot camera. Earlier, getting a photographic portrait was a formal, rare event; the new format made it commonplace.
This exhibition reveals how professional photographers and their sitters across the United States introduced immediacy to studio portraiture, transforming their sessions into avenues of fun and personal expression. Sections will trace the cabinet card’s evolution, from its beginnings in celebrity culture, through the marketing and advertising strategies of practitioners, to the diverse behaviors that people brought to their sittings. With Americans embracing photography as a fact of everyday life and playing with the medium’s believability, cabinet cards made photography modern.
Mon, Tue & Thu 11am - 5pm
Wed CLOSED
Fri 11am - 8pm
Sat & Sun 10am - 7pm
Advance Tickets Required for All Visitors, Including Members
Resnick Pavilion
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
34.0637913, -118.3588851
Acting Out: Cabinet Cards and the Making of Modern Photography, 1870–1900
