The development of 180 years of photography
It is the world’s first permanent gallery to honour photography as a contemporary and topical medium. In the Gallery of Honour, 99 photos tell the story of photography in the Netherlands from 1842 to the present day. The Gallery shows the highlights, the innovations, and the great steps photographers have made, from the invention of photography to the unique technological innovations of today.
The Gallery of Honour starts off by showing the earliest examples of photographs, known as daguerreotypes, and showcases work by dozens of photographers who explored boundaries, developed new techniques, and brought about innovation – from black and white images to colour photography and the digital age. Through six time periods, the visitor is taken through the fascinating development of 180 years of photography.
The public decides: 99 + 1
The Gallery of Honour consists of 99 iconic works, plus one empty frame. This symbolises the photograph that – consciously or subconsciously – was not chosen or noticed, not known or not (yet) appreciated. The public can pick this ‘missing photo’ themselves. In this way, the Gallery of Honour invites everyone to offer a response to the current selection of photographs. Visitors can add their own +1 photo with a special app during their visit to the Gallery of Honour.
Engaging stories on the app
These images and many others in the Gallery of Honour will make you look at the world with new, different eyes. With engaging visual and audio stories in a specially developed app, each photo explains what makes it so unique and why it deserves a place in the Gallery of Honour. Emphasis is given to include a variety of voices as the stories are told from different perspectives. With the app, visitors are invited to pick their favourites and upload their own +1 photo.
The Gallery of Honour app will be available to download from the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store. You can view the first 5 stories immediately after downloading. The rest of the images and their fascinating stories can be discovered while visiting the exhibition and scanning the QR codes.
Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by the release of the eponymous book, Gallery of Honour of Dutch Photography, published by Lecturis. It includes contributions from Frits Gierstberg, Loes van Harrevelt and Birgit Donker. This richly illustrated work was designed by Kummer & Herrman and will be available in the museum store in Dutch and English (hard cov, 248 pages, ISBN 9789462263970, price €30).
Partners & benefactors
We thank all of our partners for making the Gallery of Honour possible:
Chief Partner Gallery of Honour
VriendenLoterij
Project Partners Gallery of Honour
