Interpreting the power and evolution of photography, the International Center of Photography is a museum and school dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of photography. ICP creates programs of the highest quality to advance knowledge of the medium. These include exhibitions, collections, and education for the general public, members, students, and professionals in the field of photography. Photography occupies a vital and central place in contemporary culture; it reflects and influences social change, provides an historical record, is essential to visual communication and education, opens new opportunities for personal and aesthetic expression, has transformed popular culture, has revolutionized scientific research, and continually evolves to incorporate new technologies.
ICP Founding Director Emeritus
Cornell Capa
Since its founding in 1974 by Cornell Capa in the historic Willard Straight House, on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, ICP has presented over 500 exhibitions, bringing the work of more than 3,000 photographers and other artists to the public in one-person and group exhibitions and provided thousands of classes and workshops that have enriched tens of thousands of students. ICP was founded as an institution to keep the legacy of 'Concerned Photography' alive. After the untimely deaths of his brother Robert Capa and his colleagues Werner Bischof, David "Chim" Seymour, and Dan Weiner in the 1950s, Capa saw the need to keep their humanitarian documentary work relevant and visible to the public eye. In 1966 he founded the International Fund for Concerned Photography. By 1974 it was obvious the Fund needed a home, and the International Center of Photography was created.
Since its earliest days ICP has seen enormous growth in its exhibitions, collections, education programs, and staff. In 1985, a satellite facility, ICP Midtown, was created to help accommodate this growth. Over the years, as ICP continued to develop, it became clear that further expansion wasn’t possible in the Fifth Avenue location, and plans were made for the major redesign and reconstruction of the Midtown location to meet the challenges of the flourishing museum, educational and community programs.
ICP uptown at 5th Avenue
and 94th Street
Redesign And Reconstruction
In 1999, the headquarters building at 1130 Fifth Avenue was sold. The expanded galleries, at 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, were designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects for the display of photography and new media with state-of-the-art lighting, climate control systems, and digital presentation systems. The reopening of the 17,000-square-foot site in the fall of 2000 provided in one location the same gallery space as the two previous sites combined and became the headquarters of ICP's public exhibitions programs. The new ICP also provided an expanded store and a café.
The expansion of the School of the International Center of Photography in the fall of 2001 created an exciting Midtown campus diagonally across from the Museum in the Grace Building at 1114 Avenue of the Americas. Designed by the architecture firm Gensler, the new, 27,000-square-foot school facility doubled ICP’s teaching space and allowed ICP to expand both its programming and community outreach.
