Metropolitan Museum Receives Valuable Donation of 6,500 Photographs
A Lens into Humanity: The Transformative Power of Vernacular Photography at The Met
Photography has long served as a mirror reflecting societal values, personal identities, and historical shifts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York is set to deepen this reflective engagement through a groundbreaking acquisition: over 6,500 photographs gifted by German-American art collector Artur Walther. This promised gift comprises a globally significant collection of 20th-century, modern, contemporary, and vernacular photographs, offering a dynamic lens through which audiences can explore the diversity and complexity of the human experience.
One of the crown jewels of this collection is a poignant portrait by S.J. “Kitty” Moodley, titled “Boy in a Wicker Chair” (c. 1978). A deceptively simple image of a confident young boy seated in a rattan chair, this photo carries historical heft. Taken in Apartheid-era South Africa, it’s part of a larger archive produced by Kitty’s Studio—a family-run portrait business in Pietermaritzburg which served Black and other non-white South African clients. In a nation of strict racial segregation and oppressive identification laws, Moodley’s studio acted as a rare space of self-representation and dignity. Here, marginalized individuals could control how they wished to be seen, dressed, and remembered, countering the dehumanizing narratives imposed by the regime.
This body of work might have been lost to history if not for Columbia University professor Steven Dubin, who discovered the collection sitting in an old Cape Town garage. That serendipitous find helped rescue and champion an overlooked chapter of photographic history—one that now finds a prominent home at The Met.
Who Is Artur Walther?
Born in Germany and formerly a general partner at Goldman Sachs, Artur Walther didn’t enter the art world until his retirement in 1994. What began with collecting German modernist photography rapidly evolved into an expansive, global endeavor. Walther turned his lens toward regions undergoing rapid social, political, and technological change—particularly China and Africa—throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He even founded a museum in Neu-Ulm, Germany, in 2010 to house and exhibit his growing collection.
Walther’s curatorial eye has matured to embrace not just artistic photography but also what is often referred to as “vernacular photography”—images created for medical, scientific, commercial, or family use. In speaking about this collection, Walther remarked, “Many are just random, but others are sociologically relevant as they say something about individualities and the way people investigate or represent themselves.”
The Power of Vernacular Photography
Vernacular photography offers an irreplaceable cultural value. Unlike traditional fine art images often made for exhibitions or markets, vernacular images typically emerge from everyday life. They serve as intimate documentation—celebrating weddings, recording daily attire, showcasing local customs, or simply preserving family legacies. These photographs reveal how ordinary people define themselves through imagery, often without institutional oversight or influence.
In the case of Moodley’s clients at Kitty’s Studio, the photographs allowed non-white South Africans to resist state control through self-fashioning and personal expression. Similarly, other works in the Walther collection—from Malian photographer Malick Sidibé’s joyful dance images to J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere’s documentation of Nigerian hairstyles—are visual testaments to empowerment, creativity, and cultural pride.
A Transformative Shift at The Met
The integration of the Walther collection into The Met’s holdings is both timely and transformative. It aligns with the museum’s broader initiative to diversify its collections and spotlight global voices across its programming. Specifically, selections from the Walther bequest will feature in several key spaces:
– The Rockefeller Wing, which houses art from Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania, will reopen on May 31, 2024. Here, a rotating photography wall will ensure that images remain in dynamic dialogue with objects from other regions and time periods.
– The new Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, slated to open in 2030, will further extend the visibility of Walther’s international holdings, providing a setting that encourages cross-cultural comparison and thematic exploration.
The collection also includes iconic works from globally respected photographers such as Ai Weiwei (“Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn”), Nobuyoshi Araki, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Lebohang Kganye—alongside thousands of images by less widely known but equally compelling artists.
What’s Next?
Portions of the Walther collection are expected to be highlighted in at least two major exhibitions, scheduled for 2024 and 2028. These displays will underscore how photography evolves not just through artistic intention but through its capacity to document, resonate, and democratize storytelling.
In a statement about his gift to The Met, Walther expressed his desire to “make the artworks available to its diverse constituency