Mario Giacomelli (Italian, 1925–2000). Io non ho mani che mi accarezzino il volto (There Are No Hands to Caress My Face), 1961–63. Gelatin silver print, 11 7/8 x 15 7/8 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 6.2018.17. Courtesy Archivio Mario Giacomelli © Simone Giacomelli
Photography, as theorist Roland Barthes once argued, functions as a kind of proof, a “certificate of presence” confirming that a moment, person, or place truly existed. That idea anchors Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, a new traveling exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts (AFA). It features more than 100 photographs by over 50 artists, all drawn from one of the most significant private photography collections in the United States.
Founded in 1909, the AFA is one of the oldest organizers of traveling exhibitions in the world. It has circulated more than 3,500 exhibitions to audiences across every U.S. state and five continents. Rather than mounting shows in one place, the nonprofit brings major collections to communities that might not otherwise see them. Presence continues that mission by taking Judy Glickman Lauder’s collection on the road.
The show made its world premiere at the Southampton Arts Center in New York on July 25, 2026. It will spend the next two years traveling to museums across the country, including the Sarasota Art Museum in Florida, the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, through February 2028.
Glickman Lauder, born in 1938, is a photographer, author, philanthropist, and collector. Her connection to photography began in childhood, when her father photographed her growing up. Those images later became the basis for Kodak’s iconic “Turn Around” TV commercial in the 1960s. She eventually took up photography herself, documenting Holocaust sites across Europe. Museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art now hold her photographs.
Curated by Anjuli Lebowitz, the Judy Glickman Lauder curator of photography at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, the exhibition is arranged into eight thematic sections built around the idea of “presence.” It moves from Pictorialism and social documentary through Surrealism and street photography.
Standout pieces include Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother, one of the most reproduced photographs of the Great Depression; Gordon Parks’ American Gothic; and two images from the Civil Rights era. These include Steve Schapiro’s portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and James Karales’ Selma to Montgomery March.
Norman Seeff’s 1969 photograph of a young Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith offers a quieter, more intimate counterpoint. The range is part of what gives the collection its emotional pull. Icons appear alongside anonymous subjects. Historic events meet everyday moments.
For photography lovers, the appeal lies in seeing a private collector’s eye at work. Glickman Lauder’s collection links a Depression-era portrait to a Civil Rights march and a 1969 rock-and-roll snapshot. Together, these photographs show how one person’s perspective can connect different moments in history.
Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder is now on view at the Southampton Arts Center through September 27, 2026. It will then travel to the Sarasota Art Museum, the Gibbes Museum of Art, and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, where it will remain through February 26, 2028.
Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder brings more than 100 photographs by over 50 artists to museums across the country through a national tour organized by the American Federation of Arts.
James Karales (American, 1930–2002). Selma to Montgomery March, Alabama, 1965. Gelatin silver print, 12 7/8 x 19 1/8 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 4.2015 © Estate of James Karales, Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
Jerry N. Uelsmann (American, 1934–2022). Small Woods Where I Met Myself, 1967. Gelatin silver print, 10 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 11.2006.18 Courtesy the artist
Todd Webb (American, 1905–2000). Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets, New York (detail), 1948. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 7.2015a-h © Todd Webb Archive
The exhibition explores photography’s ability to preserve human experiences through eight thematic sections spanning Pictorialism, social documentary, Surrealism, street photography, and more.
Lotte Jacobi (American, 1896–1990). Lotte Lenya, Actress, Berlin, 1929. Gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 8.2019.1
Merry Alpern (American, b. 1955). Number 19, Dirty Window Series, New York, 1994. Gelatin silver print, 18 x 12 1/8 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 7.1998.1 © Merry Alpern / courtesy Galerie Miranda, Paris
Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, b. 1942). Mujer Ángel (Angel Woman), Sonora Desert, 1980. Gelatin silver print, 16 x 22 3/8 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 4.2008.3. Courtesy the artist
Irving Bennett Ellis (American, 1902–1977). Louise Weinstein Ellis, 1938. Gelatin silver print from a composite negative, 9 x 7 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 11.2006.7
Works by Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Steve Schapiro, James Karales, and Norman Seeff connect major historical events with intimate everyday moments.
Dorothea Lange (American, 1895–1965). Migrant Mother (Florence Owens Thompson), Nipomo, California, 1936. Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 13 1/4 x 10 1/8 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 7.1998.38
Steve Schapiro (American, 1934–2022). Martin Luther King Jr., Selma, Alabama, 1965. Gelatin silver print, 18 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 10.2010.8 © Steve Schapiro. Courtesy Monroe Gallery, Sante Fe, NM
The exhibition is on view at the Southampton Arts Center in New York until September 27, 2026, and will travel to three additional museums through February 26, 2028.
Melonie Bennett (American, b. 1969). Suzie, Bahama Beach Club, Portland, Maine, 1996. Gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 25.2001.1
Norman Seeff (American, born South Africa, b. 1939). Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, New York, 1969. Archival pigment print, 15 x 22 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 1.2016.1. Courtesy the artist
Nan Goldin (American, b. 1953). Self-Portrait in Kimono with Brian, New York, 1983. Cibachrome print, 24 1/2 x 32 in. Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Promised Gift from the Judy Glickman Lauder Collection, 9.2019.1 © Nan Goldin
Exhibition Information:
Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder
July 25–September 27, 2026
Southampton Arts Center
25 Jobs Lane, Southampton, New York
Southampton Arts Center: Website | Instagram
American Federation of Arts: Website | Instagram
All Images via News Travels Fast
Related Articles:
Meet the 7 Winners of the Prestigious 2026 Hasselblad Masters Photo Competition
Adventurous Photographer Once Walked From New York to San Francisco for a Photo Project
This Exhibition Reveals the Hidden Connections Between Generations of Queer Photographers
Photographer Reframes a Holocaust Victim’s Final Journey Through the Lenses She Once Crafted
