The History of Photography Archive is a private collection, located in New York City and owned by archivist Patrick Montgomery, of original 19th and 20th century photographs, books and related artifacts that traces the technical and artistic development of photography and photo-mechanical printing from their origins in England and France in the early 19th century up through worldwide use in the mid-20th century. Every item on this site is held in our collection. We have tried to identify important milestones in this fascinating history and then acquire original images, literature and equipment which illustrate these events. This is not a fine art collection - there are few masterpieces here of the kind sought by fine art photography collectors - but rather an archive designed to represent important developments and the innovators who made them.

Be sure to view our Collections and Sets - they'll provide an historical context to the wide variety of images in this collection. Go to: OUR COLLECTIONS

The study of the history of photography is still evolving and so is this collection. We welcome your comments, corrections and suggestions.

Many images from The History of Photography Archive are available for reproduction in books, magazines, calendars, films, museum exhibitions and other uses. For information, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE web site.

VISIT OUR OTHER SITES:

Archive Farms Inc

The Caribbean Photo Archive

The Burton Holmes Archive

The Travel Film Archive

The Travel Film Archive (You Tube).

The Travel Film Archive (Flickr)

The Industry Film Archive.

The Educational Film Archive.

The Newsreel Archive.

The Bert Morgan Archive.