Dear Friends of the HRM,

For nearly two centuries, photography has challenged perceptions, expanded artistic boundaries, and revealed truths often hidden in plain sight. With Modern Women / Modern Vision: Photographs from the Bank of America Collection, which opens today, we celebrate the women whose vision and mastery have pushed the medium forward and shaped the history of photography itself.

I am delighted to invite you to experience this extraordinary exhibition, which features nearly one hundred photographs by some of the most influential artists of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The works offer a rare and powerful look at how women have expanded the language of photography across generations, styles, and movements.

From Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange, to Graciela Iturbide and Carrie Mae Weems, these artists reveal the world in ways that are at once intimate and expansive—documenting lives, communities, and environments while also reshaping the boundaries of the medium itself. The exhibition invites you to see photography not as a single history, but as a vibrant and evolving conversation: modernist innovation, documentary practice, the Photo League, modern masters, environmental exploration, and the global contemporary lens.

Berenice Abbott famously stated, “Photography helps people to see.” This exhibition enables us to bear witness to women using photography as a form of agency—claiming space, speaking truth, and challenging the limits of what was considered worthy of attention. Many of these artists worked within systems that underestimated them, yet they persisted, creating work that remains urgent, inspiring, and profoundly relevant today. In the images on view, you can trace a lineage of courage, curiosity, and creativity that continues to shape how we see ourselves and one another.

We are proud to host this exhibition, and we are grateful to Bank of America for their partnership and support throughout the planning process. As the sole venue in the New York Metro region, HRM is honored to bring these powerful works to our community through Bank of America’s Art in our Communities® program. Their commitment to sharing art and culture with communities across the country makes it possible for museums like ours to present work of the highest caliber and to broaden the stories we can tell through the arts.

In the months ahead, we hope you will join us for a series of programs designed to deepen your experience of the exhibition:

Highlights Tours of Modern Women / Modern Vision
Fridays in February & March, 3pm
Join docent-led tours of Modern Women / Modern Vision: Photographs from the Bank of America Collection exploring the history of photography from its beginnings in 1839 and the vital role women played in shaping the medium—artistically, technologically, and economically.

Afternoon Tea with a Curator
For Director’s Circle, Premium Patron, Sustaining, and Supporter-Level Members
Wednesday, February 11, 3pm
Join Laura Vookles, Chair of the Curatorial Department, for an intimate conversation in Glenview’s Billiard Room. This members-only event includes a guided exploration of portraits on view and an opportunity to connect with fellow supporters over tea and pastries. Registration required by Friday, February 6. To become a member, visit our Membership page.

Free First Fridays: Remind Us by MorDance
Friday, March 6, 5–8pm
This contemplative performance explores collective memory, moral consciousness, and the role of women artists in bearing witness and illuminating truths. Performed by MorDance in the galleries with live music, the work unfolds as a quiet act of resistance and remembrance. Performances take place at 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30pm; seating is limited.

Curator Tour of Modern Women / Modern Vision
Saturday, March 7, 2pm
Join Assistant Curator Shilpi Chandra for a guided tour of Modern Women / Modern Vision, exploring how women radically shaped photography from the early twentieth century to the present day. This family-friendly tour highlights artists who used the camera to claim creative agency, independence, and new ways of seeing and offers fresh perspectives on iconic works and photography’s evolving legacy.

I am excited for you to experience this exhibition for yourself. The photographs on view invite us to slow down, to look more closely, and to reconsider the ways women have shaped not only the history of photography—but the way we see the world.

Thank you for your support of the HRM and for helping us continue to make the arts accessible, relevant, and inspiring for all.

Sincerely,

Masha Turchinsky
Anita K. Hersh Director and CEO
Hudson River Museum

Image: Sandy Skoglund (American, b. 1946). Revenge of the Goldfish, 1981. Cibachrome print (edition 7 of 30). Bank of America Collection. © 1981 Sandy Skoglund.