Photography’s First Century Program: Nov. 5, 2026

Learn about artists and photographers who explored the effects of light on paper, long before we had zoom lenses, remote controls and mirrorless shutters … and long, long before there were iPhones.

Melissa Sztuk

The Kimbell Art Museum is hosting its first ever comprehensive photography exhibit in conjunction with one of the world’s great repositories of photographic history and images, the National Library of France.  

Community programs representative Melissa Sztuk will discuss the scope of the exhibit and significant images, including those by Eugène Atget, André Kertesz, Man Ray, and Brassai, among others. The exhibit includes photos in historical context from Daguerreotypes in the 1840s to the modernism movements between world wars.   

Photography’s First Century was prepared to celebrate the bicentennial of photography. Photography began in 1826, when French inventor Nicéphore Niépce made the first permanent photograph, now displayed at the University of Texas at Austin.

  • View the exhibit from Oct. 4 through Jan. 17, 2027. 

Melissa regularly leads museum programs that explain the value and purpose of Kimbell exhibits. She received a graduate certificate in art history from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a master’s degree in art history from Texas Christian University.