How Portrait Photography's 'Grand-Scale' Origins Changed History

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s latest exhibit, From Shadow to Substance: Grand-Scale Portraits During Photography’s Formative Years, explores portrait photography’s grand-scale origins and showcases the museum’s incredible, diverse collection of very early photographs.

After covering the initial news a couple of months ago, PetaPixel spoke to Senior Curator of Photographs, Ann Shumard, who shared her insights and vision behind the historic exhibition. The From Shadow to Substance showcase offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of early photographic portraiture, focusing on the whole-plate format. Featuring daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, the exhibition delves into how these photographic processes developed and their significance in preserving likenesses during the mid-19th century.

The exhibition will explore how these early forms of photography, once a luxury offering from leading studios, became powerful tools for capturing life in its fleeting moments.

The Smithsonian explains how one particularly poignant phrase from this era, “Secure the shadow ere the substance fade,” highlights the fragility of life and underscores the role of photography in preserving one’s image for posterity, becoming the exhibition’s tagline moniker.

“The exhibition highlights the appeal and impact of large format portraits, a major offering in the country’s leading photography studios from the 1840s through the 1860s. It’s the first time that whole-plate daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes are being shown together at the Portrait Gallery. By featuring whole-plate portraits in each of these mediums, we can see how the evolution of photographic processes influenced image quality and aesthetic impact,” Shumard says.

The From Shadow to Substance exhibition traces the evolution of the whole-plate portrait format, 8 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches in size, as it evolved from the high-end daguerreotype, to the mid-range ambrotype, and eventually to the more affordable tintype. Featured works include daguerreotypes of prominent political figures such as U.S. Senators Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun, along with a captivating ambrotype of American landscape artist John Frederick Kensett. A tintype of an unidentified African American woman also brings attention to the accessibility of portraiture for diverse social groups.

The exhibition is not limited to the photographs themselves but also explores the marketing strategies of leading photographers such as Mathew Brady and the Southworth & Hawes studio. Their original advertisements, displayed in the exhibition, provide insight into the competitive and thriving photographic business of the time, highlighting the prestige and range of services offered, including custom portraits and memorial photography of deceased individuals.

“Competition prompted photographers such as Mathew Brady and Southworth & Hawes to produce advertisements that provided a wealth of detail about the services offered by their respective establishments,” Shumard tells PetaPixel.

“I am inclined to think that word of mouth may well have played a greater role in motivating patronage. In the case of Brady and Southworth & Hawes, the knowledge that these studios counted national celebrities among their clientele could have been a strong inducement for the general public to patronize them as well.”

The From Shadow to Substance exhibition is not just a display of early photography techniques; it is also a reflection on the evolving societal relationship with portraiture. During the mid-19th century, the desire to capture a lasting image of oneself or loved ones was deeply tied to the public’s awareness of mortality. The prominence of photographic studios like Southworth & Hawes in Boston and Brady’s Washington studio underscored photography’s emerging role in shaping the visual culture of the time.

“While the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of early photography is substantial, it’s the rare whole-plate daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes that stand out for their detail and scale. This exhibition allows visitors to consider how new photographic processes impacted the quality and appeal of the medium,” Shumard adds.

The exhibition is housed in the National Portrait Gallery’s Early Photography Alcove, a space designed to present these types of fragile historic works in optimal conditions. The Alcove utilizes motion-activated and computer-controlled lighting to ensure the best viewing experience as well as preserve the integrity of the works by minimizing exposure to light.

“The National Portrait Gallery’s Early Photography Alcove is a bespoke exhibition space that is uniquely tailored to the display of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes. The dark fabric within the recessed wall cases helps to minimizes glare and reflection while multiple, fiber optic lights with each wall case make it possible to light each object individually to create the best viewing experience. The lighting is computer controlled and is triggered by a motion sensor to minimize the amount of time that the lights remain on,” Shumard says.

Shumard anticipates the exhibition will engage visitors by encouraging them to compare and contrast the different photographic media and reflect on the enduring appeal of large-format portraits in early photography.

“As an aside, the impetus for ‘From Shadow to Substance’ was the extraordinary gift to the museum in 2023 of Mathew Brady’s iconic whole-plate daguerreotype of the powerful antebellum senator John C. Calhoun. A subsequent review of other whole-plates in the Portrait Gallery’s collection sparked consideration of the format’s staying power as a top-of-the-line offering through the succession of early photographic processes. This is the story the exhibition seeks to illuminate,” the curator says.

Alongside From Shadow to Substance, the National Portrait Gallery will also display Meserve Collection Highlights: Modern Prints from Mathew Brady’s Portrait Negatives which showcases modern prints made from some of Brady’s iconic Civil War-era negatives, including portraits of Ulysses S. Grant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Abraham Lincoln. These works offer another layer of historical context to the story of early American photography.

The From Shadow to Substance exhibition, however, focuses on an even earlier period of photographic history. It offers visitors a rare opportunity to appreciate the technical advancements and the powerful emotional resonance captured in the early works of pioneers like Brady and Southworth & Hawes. Visitors to the exhibition will leave with a deeper understanding of how photography, through its various early iterations, helped secure moments of history and the lives that shaped them into lasting images for future generations.

From Shadow to Substance: Grand-Scale Portraits During Photography’s Formative Years will be on display through June 7, 2026, at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Image credits: Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery