BMA to Open First Comprehensive Survey Exploring Baltimore’s Pivotal Role in the Evolution of Photography
Flashback: Two Centuries of Baltimore Photography to feature more than 200 images produced in Baltimore, as well as an Open Call to further celebrate photographic perspectives of the city
BALTIMORE, MD (April 30, 2026)—This fall, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present Flashback: Two Centuries of Baltimore Photography, the first comprehensive exhibition to examine Baltimore’s pivotal role in the evolution of photography. Spanning more than 185 years and featuring over 200 works by 90 named artists, Flashbackreveals Baltimore as an epicenter for innovation in documentary and portrait photography. The exhibition includes era-defining practitioners such as A. Aubrey Bodine, Elinor B. Cahn,Carl Clark, Roland L. Freeman, Robert Houston, Irving Henry Phillips, and Kenneth Royster, as well as contemporary artists Devin Allen, Jim Burger, Phylicia Ghee, Joseph Mario Giordano, Connie Imboden, Elle Pérez, Gioncarlo Valentine, Elena Volkova, andSHAN Wallace, among many others. Flashback is a ticketed exhibition on view from October 4, 2026, through February 21, 2027. It is accompanied by an illustrated catalog and a citywide Flashback Open Call inviting contemporary photographers to share new visions of Baltimore.
Drawn from the BMA’s extensive holdings and supplemented by key loans from the Smithsonian, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Maryland Center for History and Culture, International Center of Photography, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Flashback explores the medium through Baltimore’s studios, streets, neighborhoods, and collective gatherings where photography was embraced early as a tool for self‑representation, community-building, and civic engagement. The exhibition highlights the importance of photographers collaborating with their subjects, documenting protests from inside the crowd, and using photography as a practice of care and remembrance. In doing so, Flashback offers an expansive account of photography’s social role across generations, while providing a nuanced portrait of Baltimore that also affirms the city as an important site of photographic history.
“Flashback adds a compelling new chapter to our understanding of photography’s emergence as an artistic medium and as a critical tool in documenting communal and individual life. The exhibition is the result of extensive research that reveals Baltimore as an unequivocal historic site of innovation and community engagement,” said Asma Naeem, the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “Equally, this exhibition offers a dynamic, polyphonic view of our city that boldly upends perceptions shaped by fictionalized narratives. I look forward to showing visitors the true Baltimore through its many captivating images.”
Flashback is co-curated by Dr. Leslie Cozzi, BMA Curator and Department Head of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, and Antoinette Roberts, BMA Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art; with Jenna Paper-Evers, BMA Curatorial Assistant, Prints, Drawings and Photographs; and initial contributions by Andaleeb Badiee Banta, former BMA Senior Curator and Department Head, Prints, Drawings and Photographs. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog that captures the BMA’s research and image highlights.
Words by the Baltimore Muesum of Art