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Frank Cancian. Shooting back. 1971. Photograph. © 2001 Frank Cancian. University of California Irvine Libraries.

“Beauty, you’re under arrest. I have a camera, and I’m not afraid to use it.” Thus wrote the pioneering Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron as the medium was taking off in the late 19th century. The open, public, and licensed collections on the Artstor and JSTOR platforms provide a rich survey of the field from the time of its invention in France and England under Henry Fox-Talbot, Louis Daguerre, and others until the present, illustrating developments in fine art, photojournalism, documentary photography, and commercial/editorial work with more than 500,000 images. The collections are replete with examples from leading American photographers: Carleton Watkins, Ansel Adams, Alfred Steiglitz, Edward Steichen, and many more. Documentarian/photojournalists range from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Susan Meiselas. The contribution of women to the field is well supported by the work of Julia-Margaret Cameron, Anna Atkins, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Diane Arbus, Lola Álvarez Bravo, Cindy Sherman, Ami Vitale, Loretta Lux, and others.

Bruno Barbey. Hong Kong. Cheung Chau Bun Festival. 2015. Photograph. © 2022 Bruno Barbey / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York / SAIF, Paris.

An additional launch of 5,000 shots from Magnum photographers provides a panorama of events across the world and brings the Artstor corpus from the cooperative to more than 130,000 photographs. At Magnum, dozens of photographers and photojournalists are perpetually seeking out stories and offering their visions: the unique perspectives of many members are reflected in the content published by Artstor this year including global manifestations of climate change raging across the planet; refugees seeking shelter and safety; celebrations and concerns around racial, cultural and sexual identity and, domestically, the collision of Covid, and the constitutional crisis at the Capitol on January 6.

Patrick Zachmann. Paris, Notre-Dame cathedral's reconstruction … frameworks under the vaults... Yves Macel, carpenter. March 4, 2021. Photograph © 2022 Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Patrick Zachmann. Bercé's forest in la Sarthe. Cutting of oak trees … to rebuild the spire of Notre-Dame… 2021. Photograph © 2022 Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Patrick Zachmann. Bercé's forest in la Sarthe. Cutting of oak trees … to rebuild the spire of Notre-Dame… 2021. Photograph © 2022 Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Larry Towell. Vancouver Island, BC. Clear-cutting in the Fairy Creek region. Nov. 1, 2021. Photograph. © 2022 Larry Towell / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

The proximity and exceptional access gained by the French photographer Patrick Zachmann epitomizes the reach of the members of the cooperative. Since the fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris in the spring of 2019, Zachmann has documented the extraordinary labor and skill that have gone into its reconstruction: more than 350 of his photographs in Artstor chronicle this process. As shown here, last year’s progress included the reconstruction of the wooden scaffolding in the vaults of the church, and the felling of ancient oaks in the forest of Bercé to rebuild the spire. The deliberate and selective culling of the tall trees contrasts here with the nearly simultaneous deforestation of the landscape in British Columbia recorded by Canadian photographer Larry Towell – a desecration.

Patrick Zachmann. Paris. The 26 works to give back to Benin are being removed from … the Museum of Quai Branly: the statue Behanzin, the sharkman. Nov. 2, 2021. Photograph. © 2022 Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Patrick Zachmann. Paris, Museum of Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac. Four doors from King Glélé’s palace are moved …. Sept. 15, 2021. Photograph. © 2022 Patrick Zachmann / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Zachmann also provided witness to a triumphant act of repatriation that occurred in his native Paris. Twenty-six works from the Royal Treasury at Abomey, Benin were returned to Cotonou, West Africa in November 2021. They had been in Paris since the 1890s. Here we behold Behanzi, the sharkman and the doors of a royal palace as they began their journey home in gloved hands.

Guy Le Querrec. Neuilly. The American writer James Baldwin in his residence. July 21, 1970. Photograph. © 2022 Guy Le Querrec / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Guy Le Querrec. Algiers. First Panafrican Cultural Festival. Théâtre de l'Atlas. Concert of… Nina Simone. July 30, 1969. Photograph. © 2022 Guy Le Querrec / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Guy Le Querrec. Algiers. Charles Mingus, American bass player. 1970. Photograph. © 2022 Guy Le Querrec / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Guy Le Querrec. Paris, Studio des Buttes Chaumont… Shooting of the show "Deux sur la 2". Tina Turner. Jan. 26th, 1971. Photograph. © 2022 Guy Le Querrec / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

The current launch also draws from the Magnum archives, notably on three artists all born around 1940. The South African photographer Ernest Cole is represented by about 600 photographs in Artstor, most depicting apartheid in his homeland, as recorded in his book House of Bondage. Guy Le Querrec whose specialization is portraying jazz musicians actually likened his own work to the syncopation and improvisation of their performances. He is represented by nearly 2,000 photographs in Artstor, including the portraits of the writer James Baldwin, singer Nina Simone, bassist Charles Mingus, and the inimitable Tina Turner displayed here.

Bruno Barbey. Sichuan province. Leshan. The foot of a Buddhist statue, …8th century… 1980. Photograph. © 2022 Bruno Barbey / Magnum Photos / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SAIF, Paris.

Finally, we added works by the Moroccan born French photographer Bruno Barbey who died in 2020. The new photographs span his 55 year career and raise the total in Artstor to nearly 4,000. Above, his Cheung Chau Bun Festival, 2015, represents the popular early May ritual and demonstrates Barbey’s painterly command of color – not to mention his abiding interest in China where he began working in the early 1970s. Barbey was also known for his courageous practice in conflict zones. As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day (May 3) and honor the rights and safety of photojournalists, Barbey’s shot of the foot of the great Buddha at Leshan, 1980, underscores a humbling message of peace.

— Nancy Minty, collections editor

Ami Vitale. A field of blue… 2008. Photograph. © Ami Vitale / Panos Pictures.

In homage to Earth Day we have gathered a list of resources on the Artstor and JSTOR platforms, from licensed to freely available community-generated collections. We encourage you to explore this content — it combines art and science, enriching the study of the environment and the biosphere across the globe: photography from the microscopic to the panoramic, scientific and anatomical illustrations, evidence from surveys and studies, models, artists’ interpretations in varied media, the vision and work of conservationists, and the effects of our existence on this planet from millennia of cultivation and development to the threats of climate change.

Artemisia Gentileschi. Esther before Ahasuerus. Oil on canvas. Image and data from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Once upon a time–not so long ago–it seems that we believed that all the great pre-modern western painters were men! If not, why did we call them the Old Masters? The honorific derives from the masculine latin term magister meaning teacher, master, chief, coming from magis–more or greater. By definition and origin, the concept excludes women. Since the late 1900s the term has become so pervasive that a title search for old masters returns 74,000 + hits on WorldCat. Notwithstanding false results and the many auction catalogs, a lot of ink has been spilled on the Old Masters.

Seriously though, there have been many scholars, notably women, who have labored to dispel this myth. Beginning with the trailblazers Linda Nochlin’s “Why have there been no great women Artists?” and Old Mistresses, women art and ideology by Griselda Pollock and Rozsika Parker, the pendulum started to swing back and women artists began to take their rightful places. Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to revisit some of these “rediscovered” creators and their accomplishments. We already know their names: Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, Rosa Bonheur… Thankfully, they are celebrated today, and it’s always worth taking another look; after all, how many times have we lauded their counterparts the Old Masters? Of course, the current small selection under-represents women painters, but it is intended here as a temporal counterpart to the Old Masters and as an indication of far greater numbers. Apologies to the many artists unmentioned, particularly to contemporary figures.

In celebration of Women’s History Month we have compiled a list of resources available on the Artstor/JSTOR platforms, from licensed to freely available community generated collections.

Bain News Service. Woman suffrage pageant. May 191. Photograph. Image and data from Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States (Library of Congress).

We encourage you to explore the resources: photographic, graphic, and written accounts of the women’s suffrage, labor, and reproductive rights movements: the artistic output of female painters, sculptors, architects, designers, and craftswomen; the work and lives of women in science; photographs of women and by women, including a wide selection of portraits of literary luminaries, as well as of communities of women around the globe.

While 2021 had its share of jolts, schools and libraries began to regain their footing after the shocks of 2020 and started looking forward. And Artstor did as well, as we continued to make progress on the integration with JSTOR and on furthering the diversity of our content.

More diverse content and Open Artstor collections

Our ongoing efforts to bring more African American and ethnically diverse resources to Artstor and JSTOR started making their appearance in the middle of 2021, and we look forward to more releases this year.

Two buttons. Image and original data from the New York Public Library. No copyright.

Artstor has released more than 2,000 images from The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a world-leading cultural institution devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. The center was named after its chief early contributor, Arthur Schomburg. The collection can be freely accessed by everyone on both Artstor and JSTOR.

Photograph of Arthur Alfonso Schomburg. Is Hayti decadent? Issued: 1904. Image and original data from the New York Public Library. No Copyright – United States.

In honor of Black History Month, we have consolidated a list of varied resources available on the Artstor/JSTOR platforms, from licensed collections to freely available community generated collections. We invite you to explore the resources – historic chronicles from manuscripts, newspapers, documents and recordings, the story of African American art told by the works themselves, photographic archives portraying the lives of celebrated African Americans and those we no longer know. Discover great works, official records, iconic portraits, ephemera and memorabilia in the collections below.

Josephine Baker, 1930s-1940s. Image and data from Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Riley, Anthony. Ecstasy Garage Disco, Feb. 14, 1981. Image and data from Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Heliton, Bob. Angela Davis smoking, 1968. Image and data from Stephan Loewentheil Photograph Collection, #8043. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Phase 2, Lonny Wood. Ecstasy Garage Disco, Nov. 27, 1980. Image and data from Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Lambert Center, Nov. 20, 1982. Image and data from Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Two women standing, early 20th century. Image and data from Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Open Artstor: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture is now available on both the Artstor and JSTOR platforms, featuring a selection of approximately 2,500 images under Creative Commons licenses. This is part of an initiative to aggregate open museum, library, and archive collections across disciplines on both resources. We are proud to present this content, along with the freshly published Open Artstor: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York Public Library) collection as part of an ongoing initiative to bring more African American resources to Artstor and JSTOR.

Photographic postcard of soldiers in World War One at Verdun. July 1918. Image and data from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Creative Commons: Free Reuse (CC0).

Samuel Palmer. The Harvest Moon. c. 1833. Image and data from the Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection.

As the strength of the sun wanes in the fall, our festivities and rites tend to be centered on the elements of fire and light — natural, divine, and synthetic. It is no accident that many of our brightest celebrations light up our darkest months. Below, we have selected some images that collectively exalt the power of light to animate our revels.