The Morgan Library & Museum announced today the appointment of Joel Smith as the first curator of photography in the institution’s history. Currently curator of photography at Princeton University Art Museum, Mr. Smith will begin his work at the Morgan in September, and will focus his attention on building the collection and organizing related exhibitions and educational programs.

The Morgan since its earliest years has had a small collection of photographs, including a few works acquired by Pierpont Morgan in the early twentieth century. Since 1924, when the Morgan became a public institution, further examples have regularly entered the collection as gifts and, less often, by purchase. The Morgan’s holdings currently number several thousand photographs, ranging from the work of amateur or unknown photographers to vintage prints by major masters.