Amsterdam-based collector Manfred Heiting set out to obtain the finest examples available of every major photographer's work. Over a period of 30 years, he amassed an encyclopedic collection of more than 4,000 images, creating one of the top collections in the world. The MFAH acquired the holdings in 2002 and 2004, providing the public with a vivid visual record of the people, places, and events that have defined the Western world since the invention of photography. Julia Margaret Cameron, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Heinrich Kühn, Gustave Le Gray, Man Ray, Nadar, Alfred Stieglitz, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Edward Weston are some of the famous figures whose work is included.