Zhang Huan 張洹, Foam, 1998. Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of Larry Warsh / Art Issue Editions. © Zhang Huan 張洹

What Photographs Look Like
Through December 5, 2026
Princeton University Campus

Discover photography in a whole new light at the Princeton University Art Museum’s newly opened exhibition, What Photographs Look Like. Challenging the notion of photographs as simply images, the exhibition reveals the medium as a rich, tactile art form, bringing together remarkable works that invite visitors to reconsider what a photograph can be—from cherished objects and experimental sculptures to unexpected works that continue to redefine the medium today.

Photographs today are often thought of as images, not objects—representations that circulate widely and effortlessly, appearing on our devices without clear origins or destinations. For much of the history of photography, however, photographs were physical objects meant to be held, treasured, traded, or displayed in albums.

The phrase “What Photographs Look Like” is borrowed from Peter Bunnell, who was hired by Princeton in 1972 as the first endowed professor of the history of photography in the United States, and who later served twice as director of the Museum. Bunnell used the phrase to upend his students’ expectations of photographs as strictly two-dimensional prints and to invite delight in the expansive nature of the medium, from photographic drawings to malleable photo-sculptures.

Photography continues to adapt and evolve today. The collections-based exhibition “What Photographs Look Like” underscores the medium’s enduring ability to surprise.

To learn more, click here.