Nearly two hundred years ago, the first permanent photograph was taken by Frenchman Joseph Niépce of the view outside his window. Today, during National Photography Month, we celebrate the advancement of the medium. Once an expensive and cumbersome hobby or trade, the development of point-and-shoot and smartphone cameras has made photography accessible to many, allowing people from around the world to share their perspectives and stories through imagery.
Amateurs and professionals alike can find photographic inspiration at the library. Read on to learn more about our photography workshops, how to check out equipment for in-library use, and our extensive photo book collection. Happy snapping to all the photographers out there!
PROGRAMS
HCPL offers introductory photography and photo-editing classes. Upcoming workshops include:
Be sure to visit HCPL’s online calendar to view our offerings throughout the year. For those interested in taking a deeper dive, try taking an online course about photography through Universal Class or Hoopla’s The Great Courses Video Bingepass. You can access the Universal Class database and Hoopla digital streaming platform for free with an HCPL library card.
Additionally, if you’d like hands-on practice but don’t have a camera at home, you can reserve one of our Digital Media Labs (available at our Fairfield, Libbie Mill, Tuckahoe, Twin Hickory, and Varina locations) and borrow a DSLR camera, tripod, studio lights, and green screen for in-library use. Call or visit your nearest Digital Media Lab location to learn more and speak with staff about your particular project.
COLLECTION
- Bill Cunningham: On the Street: Five Decades of Iconic Photography by Bill Cunningham
- For nearly fifty years, Bill Cunningham — with his trademark bike, blue coat, and camera in hand — rode the streets of New York, spotting fashion’s latest trends. Spanning decades of his work, this catalog of images documents the evolution of New York fashion and reflects corresponding shifts in history and cultural attitudes.
- Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life by Renata Cherlise
- Created as a ‘gathering space for Black memory’ by founder Renata Cherlise, Black Archives initially began as a web platform where visitors could share photographs of themselves and loved ones experiencing everyday life. The Black Archives book adaptation compiles over three hundred photographs and provides a nuanced and multi-dimensional portrait of the Black experience.
- Don’t Blink Robert Frank [DVD] by Laura Israel
- Filmmaker Laura Israel examines the life, career, and distinct aesthetic of legendary Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank. She also explores his pivotal photo book, The Americans (1958), which reflected his response to America’s classism and racism.
- Gordon Parks: The New Tide: Early Work (1940-1950)
- The New Tide focuses on the importance of Gordon Parks’ first decade of photographic work. Parks’ early works captured the racial and political climate of the 1940s and are what helped define the self-taught photographer as a prominent figure in the field of documentary photojournalism. These formative works would ultimately lead to Parks’ sixty-five-year career spanning photography, publishing, and film.
- Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America by Matika Wilbur
- Project 562 is the culmination of Native American photographer Matika Wilbur’s ten-year project to visit and document the people of what were then the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. The result is a portrait of the lives of contemporary Indigenous Americans, their stories, and the issues that matter to them today.
- Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings by Sally Mann
- Lexington, Virginia, native Sally Mann ties decades of landscapes, portraits, and still lifes together into a cumulative work about the American South. Through the work, Mann examines questions about history, identity, race, and religion in her homeland.
- There and Back: Photographs from the Edge by Jimmy Chin
- From the peak of Mount Everest to the Ennedi Desert in Chad, photographer, filmmaker, and mountaineer Jimmy Chin has been on dangerous expeditions across all seven continents to capture legendary athletes in their element. There and Back spans twenty years of Chin’s career and offers behind-the-scenes details about how he captures photographs in such dangerous conditions.
- Vivian Maier Developed: The Untold Story of the Photographer Nanny by Ann Marks
- Vivian Maier Developed explores the largely unknown story of Vivian Maier, the nanny whose prolific work was only discovered after her death in a 2007 Chicago thrift auction. Largely self-portraits and scenes from the streets of New York and Chicago, Maier’s archive consists of 140,000 images. The book includes 400 of these as well as new investigative research that provides a clearer picture of the woman behind the camera.
ADDITIONAL TITLES
You might also enjoy these titles about the history of photography, its different genres, and notable figures. This is just a handful of what’s available in our collection. If you need help finding titles on a particular photographic topic or artist, just ask a librarian!
- American Photography: 1890 – 1965, from the Museum of Modern Art, New York by Peter Galassi
- Bystander: A History of Street Photography by Colin Westerbeck
- Capturing the Light: The Birth of Photography, A True Story of Genius and Rivalry by Roger Watson (also available on Hoopla)
- Contact High: A Visual History of Hip Hop by Vikki Tobak
- Everyday Beauty: Photographs from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, forward written by Lonnie G. Bunch, III
- Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism by Marc Aronson (also available on Hoopla)
- The Golden Age of British Photography: 1839-1900 by Mark Haworth-Booth
- Group f.64: Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and the Community of Artists Who Revolutionized American Photography by Mary Street Alinder
- Lens of War: Exploring Iconic Photographs of the Civil War by Gary W. Gallagher (also available on Hoopla)
- Lives of Great Photographers by Juliet Hacking
- Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s by Hugh Nini
- The Photography Book by Ian Jeffrey
- Photography: The Definitive Visual History by Tom Ang
- Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People [DVD] by Thomas Allen Harris
- Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to Present by Gail Buckland