Wednesday, September 30, 2026

How do photographs tell stories? And how do the choices photographers make, from sequencing and text to scale and presentation, shape the way we understand them?

These questions are at the heart of Storytelling: Photographers Making Meaning | Works from the Wellin Museum’s Collection, which opened at the Wellin Museum of Art on Saturday, September 12. Curated by Elizabeth Shannon, PhD, Collections Curator, the exhibition brings together works by eleven American photographers who use images, sequencing, text, and presentation in distinct ways to construct narratives and communicate ideas.

We were thrilled to welcome over 200 visitors to the Wellin for the opening reception. Throughout the afternoon, guests moved between photographic series by Eve Arnold, Rhona Bitner, Danny Lyon, Mike Mandel, Wright Morris, Bill Owens, Gordon Parks, Milton Rogovin, Keisha Scarville, Lorna Simpson, and Garry Winogrand, encountering approaches that span fine art, photojournalism, documentary, conceptual, and street photography.

And conversation is just getting started.

For those who want to dig deeper, we have been developing a growing collection of digital content around the exhibition. Start with our virtual walkthrough of Storytelling, led by Shannon in conversation with Associate Curator Alexander Jarman. Together, they offer a closer look at the ideas shaping the exhibition and the relationships that emerge between works when they are experienced in the gallery.

One particularly exciting connection reaches back into the Wellin’s own exhibition history. Photographer Rhona Bitner, whose work is included in Storytelling, was the subject of the Wellin’s 2023 solo exhibition Rhona Bitner: Resound. Her photographs explore the spaces and objects associated with performance and their ability to evoke personal and collective memory. Visitors can revisit the museum’s exhibition video for Resound to learn more about Bitner’s practice before encountering her work anew in Storytelling.

In a moment when we encounter an extraordinary volume of imagery every day, the exhibition encourages us not only to look, but to consider how we look and how meaning is constructed through the images around us.

And there is much more to come. Throughout the year, we’ll continue sharing artist features, videos, programs, and closer looks at individual works across the Wellin’s social media channels and cannot wait to welcome Brooklyn-based artist Keisha Scarville back to campus for an Artist in Conversation on Wednesday, October 21. Remote audiences can stream the conversation by registering here.

Storytelling remains on view at the Wellin through June 12, 2027.

Click here to explore Storytelling and upcoming programming.