The Gender Show

Our new exhibition raises many questions about gender identity and dynamics. The Gender Show offers a visual history of the various ways in which male and female roles have been explored and presented by the camera: stereotypes, innocent assertions, light-hearted playacting, or elaborate masquerades.

The collection spans over 170 years of photography, so we can explore and thoughtfully examine the changing cultural and social landscape over generations, as we shape and are shaped by photographic images. The Gender Show offers the opportunity to see important photographs from our collection in a new context.

The exhibition features 130 portraits spanning from the 19th Century to the present and includes work by Robert Frank, Mary Ellen Mark, Julia Margaret Cameron, Barbara Norfleet, and Edward Steichen.  Self-portraits by artists, sometimes in disguise, are a small but essential part of the exhibition, as are photographs of leading actors such as Sarah Bernhardt, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Lily Langtry, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

We hope The Gender Show sets the stage for a lively discussion about both photographic and cultural conventions – for a variety of audiences for both its subject matter and contents (those interested in material, visual, and popular culture; gender, identity, and equality; and photographic history, etc.)

The Gender Show is a traveling exhibition organized by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.

more information at eastmanhouse.org