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Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection

In 1991, New York–based collector Allan Chasanoff donated to the Museum nearly 1,000 20th-century photographs by Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Bill Brandt, Brassaï, Lee Friedlander, Jan Groover, André Kertész, William Klein, Aaron Siskind, Josef Sudek, Garry Winogrand, Joel-Peter Witkin, and many other well- and lesser-known artists. Chasanoff relishes pictures that puzzle him, and he built his collection by questioning what occurs when the camera “captures” the real world but the resulting image creates confusion rather than clarity, challenging photography’s reputation as a dependable document.

Collection Highlights
Portrait of James Joyce
Berenice Abbott
1926, printed c. 1960
Gelatin silver print
91.336
Interior of Scroll Case in Norris Dam Powerhouse, T.V.A.
Unknown American
1930s
Gelatin silver print
91.337
Mac Adams
1978, printed c. 1980
Gelatin silver print, half of diptych
91.338
North of Briggsdale, Colorado
Robert Adams
1973, printed c. 1980
Gelatin silver print
91.339