Photography was invented 180 years ago, in 1839. Over its relatively short history it went through rapid and complex technological changes that turned it into a new art form.

This exhibition presents some of the key stages in the history of photography, reflecting technical, documentary and artistic aspects of its evolution between the 1850s and the 1910s, when photographic experimentation was at its height. Using prints by both Russian and foreign photographers in the Hermitage collection, the exhibition looks at different techniques, some of them extremely rare. Several cameras from the Hermitage also illustrate the mechanical and optical improvements that took place in this period. Altogether the exhibition presents more than seventy items, most of them never before displayed.