"Hide and Seek: Picturing Childhood" is the current photography exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
It presents 42 artists and their photographs of children, originating from the "Hallmark Photographic Collection."
"This collection has over 8,000 photographs," said April Watson, associate curator of Photography at the Nelson-Atkins.
"Since photography's inception in 1839, children have been popular subjects for the camera," according to the museum's promotional materials. "This exhibition explores our fascination with childhood as pictured throughout photography's history."
The oldest photography in the exhibition is Lewis Carroll's portrait "Alexandra Kitchin," according to Watson. It dates around 1868.
"Alexandra Kitchin" is one of Watson's favorite photographs. "Birds at Home" is another.
"Birds at Home" is the most recent photograph among the 45 displayed images. It is a contemporary work by Julie Blackmon and dates 2007.
Blackmon lives and works in Springfield, Mo. She included "Birds at Home" in her 2008 publication "Domestic Vacations."
Blackmon finds inspiration for her work in the Dutch paintings of Jan Steen, claims the photograph's description.
Some of the featured photographs capture children from different parts of the world. Gloria Baker Feinstein's photograph captures a Ugandan "Boy with Ball" (2007).
Feinstein describes her experience of working in Uganda on her Web site, www.gloriabakerfeinstein.com.
"Sometimes the faces of the children cloud over with something I have no way of recognizing," Feinstein said. "At other times, the mixture of pain and joy is all too familiar. That combination, that contradiction, that fact of life is what I have tried to address with these pictures."
After one of her trips to Africa, Feinstein founded the nonprofit organization Change the Truth. The organization assists Ugandan children orphaned as a result of AIDS or war.
Feinstein is a Kansas City-based photographer and will discuss her work at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.
The exhibition represents many aspects of childhood.
The museum's promotional materials state, "Various conceptions and themes include romantic childhood and childhood's harsher social realities, the significance of education, play and imagination and the place of children in the adult world."
Morris Engle's "Comic Book Stand" (1945) represents the imaginative side of childhood. It shows a boy reading a comic book.
Jessica Jones from Denver, Colo. commented on Engle's photograph in the gallery's guest book.
"I loved Morris Engle's 'Comic Book Stand,' and plan to look at his other work now," Jones wrote. "Thank you for introducing him to me."
At the moment, there are no plans for the exhibition to travel after Feb. 21, Watson said. But the museum has received a couple of requests.
"We are very pleased when we can share our collections with the local community," Watson said. "That's why we are here."
"Hide and Seek: Picturing Childhood" resides in the Bloch Building, in gallery 11 and runs through Feb. 21. Admission is free.
The museum opens at 10 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday and at noon on Sunday. It closes at 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 4 p.m. on Wednesday and 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
lstrong@unews.com
