I love New Haven history. I love photography, and it’s evolution. I love ghosts, but not the big ones. Yesterday I visited the Little Ghosts exhibition at the Institute Library and I was blown away! Around 150 years ago, Chapel Street between State and Church was peppered with photography studios that specialized in portraits of that era which predates DSLRs, SLRs, Range Finders, and even the Kodak Brownies and celluloid film of the early 1900’s. These guys had the photography world on lock!
Little Ghosts displays many 19th century portraits taken at the various studios which lined Chapel Street, not far from the gallery of the Institute Library in which they currently hang. The show is curated by Lisa Kereszi, the Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies in Photography at the Yale School of Art, and also contains pieces on loan from the New Haven Museum.
This Saturday, April 20th at 3:30pm, Lisa Kereszi will give a talk about her exhibit at the Institute Library, 847 Chapel Street 3rd Floor. I’m sure that will be a very cool talk!
Little Ghosts will be up until May 4th and viewable M-F 10am-6pm, and Saturdays 10am-2pm. It’s definitely something that people should check out. It’s a really fascinating combination of New Haven history, photographic history, and cultural history. For more info, visit the events section of the Institute Library’s website: www.institutelibrary.org/events
