Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries
See 15 Photos of Striking Landscapes and Lively Scenes Deep in the Heart of Texas
These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest remind us what makes the Lone Star State so special
This New Immersive Experience Is Built With Hundreds of Photos, Videos and Magazine Covers From the ‘Rolling Stone’ Archives
Narrated by Kevin Bacon, the 50-minute exhibition examines the history of rock music through media projected onto walls across a 4,000-square-foot gallery
See 26 Captivating Images From the World Press Photo Contest
In stark black-and-white and stunning color, this year’s winning photographs capture global events on a human scale
San Francisco Names a Street For the Photographer Who Captured Marines Raising an American Flag at Iwo Jima
Joe Rosenthal is famous for his Pulitzer Prize-winning image. But he spent most of his career photographing San Francisco, where he lived for many years
These 17 Pictures Tell the Stories of Black Athletes in America
A new book from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture shows the images and impacts of athletes on and off the playing field
The Real Story Behind the ‘Lee’ Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired It
In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller’s many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment
How the Rise of the Camera Launched a Fight to Protect Gilded Age Americans’ Privacy
Early photographers sold their snapshots to advertisers, who reused the individuals’ likenesses without their permission
The Real Story Behind ‘The Bikeriders’ and the Danny Lyon Photography Book That Inspired It
A new film dramatizes the story of a motorcycle club chronicled by Lyon in the 1960s, offering a tribute to the outlaw spirit
See the Winners of the 21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest
This year’s top photographs capture the quiet and chaotic from the American South to East Asia
How Lee Miller, a Magazine Model and Muse, Became a Daring World War II Photographer
The bold journalist, who made a splash on both sides of the lens, is the subject of a new biopic starring Kate Winslet
These Photos of the March on Washington Capture the Urgency and Joy of the Iconic Day
Stanley Tretick documented the demonstration in 1963, but his snapshots were hidden in a trunk, unseen by the public for decades
The Photographer Who Forced the U.S. to Confront Its Child Labor Problem
Lewis Hine’s early 20th-century “photo stories” sparked meaningful legislative reform
Fighting Fire With Fire in California
How communities in the West are boldly setting property ablaze to reduce the impact of extreme wildfires
Announcing the Winners of Smithsonian Magazine’s 20th Annual Photo Contest
From Norway to Nepal, this year’s winning images span the globe to capture the extraordinary
How a New York Tabloid Captured the First Photo of an Execution by the Electric Chair
In January 1928, Tom Howard of the “Daily News” smuggled a camera into Sing Sing, where he snapped a picture of Ruth Snyder’s final moments
These Trailblazers Were the Only Women in the Room Where It Happened
A new book spotlights 100 historical photographs of lone women hidden among groups of men
Fifty Years Later, Kim Phuc Phan Thi Is More Than ‘Napalm Girl’
While the image freezes in time a moment of wartime horror, its subject has been moving forward
These Are the Winners of Smithsonian Magazine’s 19th Annual Photo Contest
From the beauty of bodies in motion to the symbiotic behaviors of insects, these photographers captured fascinating moments in time
Chronicling the Triumphs—and Tragedies—of Life in the Deep South
A new book and traveling exhibition highlight the work of Mississippi photographer O.N. Pruitt
What the Haunting ‘Inner Passage’ Represented to the Enslaved
These photographs explore the waterways of the South that brought suffering to so many and also provided some a way out of bondage
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