Exhibition explores their influence, innovation and interconnected careers
“Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan”
Oct. 9, 2026-Feb. 7, 2027
ATLANTA, June 1, 2026 — This fall, the High Museum of Art will be the exclusive Southeast venue for “Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan” (Oct. 9, 2026-Feb. 7, 2027), a touring exhibition that examines the overlapping careers of these profoundly influential photographers, teachers and thinkers who redefined photography in the mid-20th century. Drawing from the rich holdings of the Princeton University Art Museum and its Minor White Archive, the exhibition will feature iconic and previously unpublished color and black-and-white prints, rarely seen slides, and an array of published and archival materials.
“‘Photography as a Way of Life’ presents an important and interconnected story of the impact these three artists had on the burgeoning field of photography education and experimentation in the mid-20th century,” said Maria L. Kelly, the High’s assistant curator of photography. “The High has strong holdings of Harry Callahan’s work in the collection, and the exhibition contextualizes his thoughtful practice alongside those of Siskind’s and White’s. This exhibition will be a treat for photographers, scholars, enthusiasts and every visitor in between.”
Amid photography’s increasing recognition as an art form in the 1950s and ’60s, White, Siskind and Callahan carved out a new role and status for the medium, building a devoted audience for their work and shaping the aspirations of the era. Though the artists came from distinct backgrounds and visual traditions, they converged around their inclinations toward abstraction and deeply personal expression and their shared belief that photography could sustain a life’s work.
They each established themselves as icons of the first generation of college-level photography teachers beginning in the 1940s, when such programs were emerging at American universities. The new models of photographic education they developed led to their critical success through books, exhibitions and museum acquisitions and helped catalyze publishing ventures and professional societies that defined the postwar photographic landscape.
The exhibition takes its title from a recurring phrase in White’s diaries and letters, in which he describes photography as a “way of life.” For White, this encompassed artistic ambition, pedagogy and personal growth — a philosophy he advanced as a founding editor of Aperture, the influential photography magazine launched in 1952. Siskind and Callahan were central figures in White’s vision for the field, and their work prominently featured in Aperture alongside broader discussions of photographic education and creative photography.
Highlights of the exhibition will include a video reconstruction of White’s “Slow Dance” — a projected sequence of color slides White performed for live audiences in the late 1960s and ’70s — as well as materials from magazines and journals, including Aperture and Popular Photography, to poetry publications and The Black Photographers Annual. The exhibition also traces the artists’ expansive networks through work by both their students and contemporaries, such as Emmet Gowin, Roy DeCarava, Linda Connor, Arthur Siegel, Ming Smith, and John Baldessari, among others.
“I’m delighted to see this important exhibition travel to the High Museum of Art, a landmark institution with a longstanding commitment to photography,” said Brendan Fay, organizing curator at Princeton and associate professor of art history at Eastern Michigan University. “I hope this exhibition will reveal White, Siskind and Callahan in a new light—as inspirations to generations of photographers, to be sure, but also as catalysts for an emerging field of enthusiasts, collectors, scholars and institutions that have shaped how we see the medium today.”
“Photography as a Way of Life” will be presented in the Lucinda Weil Bunnen Gallery for Photography on the Lower Level of the High’s Wieland Pavilion. The presenting curator for this exhibition at the High is Maria L. Kelly, assistant curator of photography.
Exhibition Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue copublished by the Princeton University Art Museum and Princeton University Press.
Exhibition Organization and Support
“Photography as a Way of Life: Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan” is organized by the Princeton University Art Museum and curated by Brendan Fay, associate professor of art history in the School of Art and Design at Eastern Michigan University. The exhibition at Princeton was made possible by leadership support from Jim McKinney and the late Valerie McKinney; Anne Robinson Woods; Sandy and Robin Stuart; the Wyeth Foundation for American Art; and other generous donors.
At the High, this exhibition is made possible by Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Premier Exhibition Series Supporters Sarah and Jim Kennedy; Major Exhibition Series Supporter The Fay S. and W. Barrett Howell Family Foundation; Major Exhibition Series Sponsor Harry Norman Realtors; Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters Robin and Hilton Howell; Ambassador Exhibition Series Supporters Sara and Paul Steinfeld and Mrs. Harriet H. Warren; and Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Mary and Neil Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones, Megan and Garrett Langley, Margot and Danny McCaul, Wade A. Rakes II and Nicholas Miller, Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot, and Lisa Cannon Taylor and Chuck Taylor. Generous support is also provided by Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund and RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.
About the High Museum of Art
Located in the heart of Atlanta, the High Museum of Art connects with audiences from across the Southeast and around the world through its distinguished collection, dynamic schedule of special exhibitions and engaging community-focused programs. Housed within facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High features a collection of more than 20,000 works of art, including an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American fine and decorative arts; major holdings of photography and folk and self-taught work, especially that of artists from the American South; burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture, new media and design; a growing collection of African art, with work dating from prehistory through the present; and significant holdings of European paintings and works on paper. The High is dedicated to reflecting the diversity of its communities and offering a variety of exhibitions and educational programs that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information, visit the High’s website.
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