Self-Reference and Selling Photography

California Museum of Photography

September 3 - December 31, 2013

The images selected for this exhibition were drawn from the permanent collection and show the photographer or viewer staged to market photography overtly.  These are a contrast to the more typical self-referential photograph, where the sitter might hold a photograph or album, or a photographer posed himself in an occupational self portrait.  Instead, the photographs in "Self-Reference and Selling Photography" illustrate the shift toward representing photography as an accessible, fun, and even sexy hobby, and how the photographers were able to market themselves through their work.

Image Caption:  W. Edwin Gledhill, "Let the Children Kodak," 1909, advertisement based on gelatin silver print in museum's collection, gift of Peggy and Keith Gledhill.