Cabinet Cards at the LACMA
Benjamin J. Falk - Helena Luv 1880s
From August 8th until November 7th, 2021, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is presenting the exhibition "Acting Out: Cabinet Cards and the Making of Modern Photography".
Source: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Image: Benjamin J. Falk (active in New York), Helena Luv, 1880s, albumen silver print. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.
Because of their low price and ease of creation and reproduction, cabinet photographs (or cabinet cards, "format cabinet" in French) were the most popular photographs in the United States during the last three decades of the 19th century, before the advent of the snapshot camera, such as the Kodak Box Brownie introduced in 1900.
The exhibition shows how this type of work turned photography into something modern, introducing immediacy into the hitherto more solemn studio portrait. In general, these cards were small works, the most common format being 108 x 165 mm (4+1⁄4 by 6+1⁄2 inches) in both horizontal and vertical format.
In addition to "Acting Out: Cabinet Cards and the Making of Modern Photography", LACMA has announced the exhibition "Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection" (starting September 19), featuring works by artists from Asia, Europe and North America, offering a look at the use of ink in art today.

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