Carte de Visite: History of Photography

Carte de Visite: History of Photography is on view at McNamara Hallway Gallery from April 24 – May 20, 2026.

The carte de visite was a popular 19th-century photographic format used for portraits, visiting and business cards, and studio advertisements. They were traded among friends, collected in albums, displayed in homes, included in books' frontispieces, and shown in photo studio windows. Each carte de visite functioned as a medium of self-promotion and may be regarded as an early form of social media.

The works in this exhibition were produced by University of Nevada, Reno students in Dr. Guerrero Hernandez's History of Photography course. Each piece is a contemporary re-appropriation of the carte de visite format, rooted in the students' personal and social interests — touching on gender, race, class, family, memory, and death. The students employed unorthodox materials and techniques, including metal, plastic, wood, paper, embroidery, assemblage, and collage.

Each new carte de visite has two sides: one presenting the persona created, the other serving as the "studio's" label.