In addition to the temporary exhibitions the Permanent Collection at ICP contains more than 100,000 photographs. Since its opening in 1974, ICP has acquired important historical and contemporary images through a dedicated acquisitions committee and through generous donations and bequests from photographers and collectors. The collection spans the history of the photographic medium, from daguerreotypes to gelatin silver and digital chromogenic prints.
The collection is strongest in its holdings of American and European documentary photography of the 1930s to the 1990s. It comprises large bodies of work by W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Farm Security Administration photographers, Alfred Eisenstadt, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, James VanDerZee, and Garry Winogrand. Recent purchases have included work by contemporary photographers such as Carrie Mae Weems, Justine Kurland, Katy Grannan, Vik Muniz, Tomoko Sawada, and Susan Meiselas.
Another component of the collection is a significant group of photographically illustrated magazines, particularly those published between World War I and II, such as Vu, Regards, Picture Post, Lilliput, Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung, and LIFE.
An extensive selection from the Permanent Collection is viewable online.
Qualified researchers may use the Print Study Room to consult materials from ICP's Collection. Appointments may be made by contacting the Collections Assistant via fax at 212.768.4688 or email. Please provide your name, address, a detailed description of the research topic and works you would like to see, phone contact number, and date and time requested. ICP staff will respond to help ensure that our holdings can meet your research needs.
Image credits left to right: Miroslav Tichý, Untitled, n.d. © Foundation Tichy Ocean; André Kertész, Clock of the Académie Française, Paris, 1932, Gelatin silver print, 9 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. © Estate of André Kertész/Higher Pictures The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles