Points of View a popular success

[Michael Pritchard]

The British Library's most visited temporary exhibition during 2009-10 was Points of View which attracted 108,989 visitors and surpassed, by far, the Henry VIII exhibtion. Points of View: Capturing the 19th Century in Photographs was the British Library’s first major photographic exhibition and examined the development and influence of photography from its invention in 1839 up to the growth of a popular amateur market in the early 20th century. It showed rarely displayed items from the collection and explored how photography had assumed a critical role as the primary means of visual expression. The show was curated by John Falconer.