Contesting Images: Photography and the World's Columbian Exposition

The prevalence of photography at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 demonstrated that it was a technology in transition. Photographs were used in innovative ways and on a scale never attempted at previous exhibitions. The special British Loan Collection featured preeminent photographers of the new pictorial art movement, while the most recent French developments in color photography and in criminal photography were on display. Key photographic manufacturers in the United States, including the Eastman Company, staged elaborate exhibits, and photographers such as James Landy, Julius Caesar Strauss, and Emma Farnsworth showed their work. Contesting Images reveals that there were also competing uses of photography at the fair. The Exposition was a stage for the internal politics of both the official organizers and the photographers and manufacturers as they competed for their respective spaces. In addition, the Exposition regulated photography for commercial consumption by licensing concessions and restricting the equipment used by professional and amateur photographers.The role that photography played at the World's Columbian Exposition opens up a new window on the dynamics that drove this event, providing an insider's view of how the fair worked for both exhibitors and spectators.