About the project

September 18, 2013 – February 28, 2014

The exhibition Pioneering Poet of Light, created by the Performing Arts Museum, highlights some of the Library’s most requested treasures: Vandamm prints, contact sheets, and negatives of theater, music, and dance in London (1908–1923) and New York (1924–1963). Perhaps the most widely published and least understood visual record of 20th century performing arts, the output of the Vandamm Studio has largely been utilized only as illustrative backdrop for the retelling of Broadway history. Few are aware that the visionary photographer and portraitist who lent her talent and name to the studio was Florence Vandamm—a woman who opened her first studio in 1908!

Graphic and Exhibition Designer
Interactive by Melissa Bartz

Photography by Jonathan Blanc