Seattle Art Museum. Photography in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum by Rod Slemmons.

Seattle Art Museum, 1990. An excellent survey of the history of photography through examples from the museum's collection. Photographers: William Henry Jackson; Mark Klett; Lewis Baltz; Timothy O’Sullivan; Joe Deal; Roger Mertin; Lewis Hine; Marion Post Wolcott; Danny Lyon; Eugene Atget; Edward S. Curtis; Glen Rudolph; Robbert Flick; Paul Strand; Lisette Model; Arthur Rothstein; Margaret Bourke-White; Dorothea Lange; Ralph Gibson; Walker Evans; Robert Frank; Lee Friedlander; Frank Sutcliffe; Aaron Siskind; Larry Fink; John Thompson; Marsha Burns; Harry Callahan; Garry Winogrand; Henry Peach Robinson; Eileen Cowin; Russell Lee; Imogen Cunningham; Diane Arbus; Paul Berger. Wraps, 40 pages, fine. Summary:

Photography in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum is a comprehensive collection catalogue and survey that documents the institutional history, growth, and depth of the photography holdings at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). Written during Slemmons's impactful 14-year tenure as SAM’s curator of photography, the publication serves as both a historical record of the museum’s permanent collection and a broader educational text on the evolution of the photographic medium.

Key Overview and Objectives

• Curatorial Insight: The publication synthesizes Slemmons’s philosophy on museum acquisitions, exploring how public institutions select, preserve, and contextualize photographs. It frames the museum's collection not just as a repository of images, but as an evolving narrative of visual culture.

• Historical Survey: Rather than focusing on a single trend, the volume functions as a chronological and thematic survey of the history of photography, anchored entirely by works owned by SAM.

Core Themes

• Landscape and the Western Survey: A significant portion of the catalogue explores how early photography shaped the perception of the American West via survey photographers, contrasting it with late 20th-century practices that look at human-altered landscapes.

• The Power of Documentary: Slemmons emphasizes the social impact of photography, analyzing how Depression-era imagery, labor documentation, and post-war street photography shifted public consciousness and established the camera as an unmatched tool for social realism.

• Pacific Northwest Representation: The text highlights SAM's deliberate effort to champion regional photographers, positioning Northwest visual artists alongside global masters of the medium.

Significance

The publication remains a vital reference text for understanding the museum's foundational photography department. It charts the transition of photography from an under-appreciated documentary tool into a core pillar of fine art museum collecting in the late 20th century.