Photography can amaze us, make us doubt, or make us believe. It’s not just the image that plays a role in our response, but also photography’s materiality. Whether reproduced on glass, paper or a digital screen, each manifestation of the medium guides our perception. Digital processes and the use of artificial intelligence increasingly question the object nature of photography.

What makes a photograph special? What is it made of? In its Photography Collection, the Kunstbibliothek (Art Library) preserves a wide range of the most diverse photo objects, whose stories and reception histories are in constant flux. Starting with a material history of photography, the exhibition addresses aspects of techniques, collective memory and knowledge culture, covering the history of the medium from its beginnings to the present day.

A special exhibition of the Kunstbibliothek – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin