A spatial interface to twenty essays on the objects and themes of the exhibit as well as the objects and landmarks
More informationThe important landmarks that stood at this important Broadway intersection over time and by site
More informationA look at the technical processes along with the men and women who made all these cultural commodities in New York
More informationHannah Wirta Kinney
Claire McRee
Kelsey Brow
Andrew Gardner
Kirstin Purtich
Kirstin Purtich
Claire McRee
Laura Kelly-Bowditch
Kelsey Brow
Virginia Fister
Martina D’Amato
Zahava Friedman-Stadler
Virginia Spofford
Virginia Spofford
Martina D'Amato
Virginia Fister
Andrew Gardner
Luther Boswell for Mathew Brady
Jenny Lind
1850
Whole-plate daguerreotype, gold-toned
8 1/2 x 6 3/8 in. ( 21.59 x 16.2 cm)
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington D. C.
Luther Boswell, a photographer working for Mathew Brady, took this daguerreotype of opera singer Jenny Lind in September of 1850 (whole-plate daguerreotype) near the end of her successful first American tour, arranged by P. T. Barnum, of which copies were later made. His promotion of the “Swedish Nightingale,” which emphasized Lind’s innocence, modesty, and vocal talent, resulted in sold-out venues across the nation. Brady’s portrait of Lind would have been seen by visitors to his studio gallery. The reflective surface of this image results from the silver-coated plate used to produce daguerreotype prints.
— Claire McRee + Laura Kelly-Bowditch