For the first time, photographs from the Royal Photographic Society are gathered together in a fascinating, unique tribute to the art form. Highlights include one of the world's oldest photographic images; rare works by Stieglitz, Steichen, and Coburn; selections from the collections of Julia Margaret Cameron and Roger Fenton; extraordinary images from mid-nineteenth-century travelers who brought back "exotic" prints from the East; and eccentric and beautiful works from unknown professional and amateur photographers. Taken together, they represent an unbroken thread linking the development of genres, styles, and techniques.

From portraiture to journalism, landscape to fashion, "PhotoHistorica" juxtaposes work both familiar and unfamiliar, putting images into a provocative thematic context. Every page reveals the enduring power of photography.