Reference # 29361
Closes on 16 Feb 2020 23:55
Department Curatorial
Expertise 0-2 years
Career level PHD, MA, BA, Other
Hours/Status Full-Time
One of the first American museums to recognize photography as an art form, SFMOMA’s photography collection encompasses work from daguerreotypes made in the first years of the medium’s existence to digital imagery produced by experimental contemporary artists. The largest collecting area in the museum, photography has been an integral part of SFMOMA since it’s founding in 1935, due to the formative presence of Bay Area artists such as Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, and Imogen Cunningham.
SFMOMA’s pioneering commitment to photography continues today, even as the definition of the medium continues to evolve. By bringing together all of its forms – prints, projections, and installations – we aim to propose a fresh approach to exhibiting photography at SFMOMA, one that embraces the inherently modern and democratic qualities of photography in the current era.
The Photography Department is conducting research on Chinese and Southeast Asian photography to add works to SFMOMA’s collection and for developing future exhibitions. SFMOMA has established a partnership with the WYNG Foundation in Hong Kong to acquire significant works by photographers working in Hong Kong or on a subject related to the city’s situation, challenges, or history. Over a period of three years, SFMOMA representatives will make regular research trips to Hong Kong to meet with artists and identify potential acquisitions. In the fourth year, an exhibition will take place at SFMOMA presenting and highlighting these acquisitions to a wide audience.
Adjacent to the Hong Kong project, Photography department is researching and visiting studios in the Philippines to collect works of emerging and contemporary artists who use photography from the region. This material, connected to Filipino and Filipino-American communities and artistic activities in the Bay Area, will be used in future small and larger-scale exhibitions.
The Curatorial Intern, Photography will assist with various aspects of the research and organization for these two initiatives, including compiling an annotated bibliography of Hong Kong and Filipino photography sources, sorting and adding to artist files, performing some translations as needed, and developing a database of all potential or active acquisitions.
