The next PHSNE virtual meeting will take place on Sunday, November 2nd, 7:30 P.M. EST on Zoom (please note—daylight savings ends that day, so clocks will be set back by one hour!). If you wish to receive email updates about this and future meetings, sign up for notifications here.

The presenter will be Katherine (Kappy) Mintie, who is an art historian and museum professional focusing on exploring the material history of photography during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mintie is currently Head of Collections at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson (https://ccp.arizona.edu/).

Her presentation at the November 2nd PHSNE meeting, The Transatlantic Trade in Photographic Materials During the 19th Century, builds on her article Material Matters. Photographs are—and always have been—composite objects made from materials and tools often sourced from distant locations; however, photo historians often overlook the complex networks of labor and commerce that enable the creation of a photograph.

This talk will explore these essential trade relations through an examination of the transatlantic trade in photographic materials during the nineteenth century and the impact these exchanges had on photography in the United States. While most nineteenth-century photographs do not readily reveal their material composition, early photography journals—such as The Philadelphia Photographer and Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin—offer insight into the array of imported products available to and adopted by photographers in the United States.

By looking at advertisements, for-sale ads, and tipped-in photographic prints featured in these journals, this talk will highlight how imported photographic goods both formed and informed photography in the nineteenth-century United States.

Before moving to her current position, Mintie was the Senior Researcher in Art History at the Lens Media Lab at Yale University and the Robinson Family Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Harvard Art Museums. She received her Ph.D. from the History of Art Department at the University of California Berkeley.