'Street View': Photographs of Urban Life

The street is a fundamental part of the urban landscape and has featured consistently in photography throughout the twentieth century. Street View: Photographs of Urban Life explores how photographers have captured city life on camera in Sheffield, around the UK and abroad.

The invention of smaller, lighter hand-held cameras in the late 19th century enabled photographers to escape the restrictions of the studio and take their practice onto the street. Ever since, the street has appeared in photographs as both a primary subject and an informative backdrop, contextualising the rest of the scene. This exhibition explores the diversity of the street; as a social space, as a battleground for protest and as a source of artistic inspiration.

Street View showcases photographs by both internationally recognised photographers and local artists. The images on display span the everyday to the extraordinary, from familiar depictions of work and leisure to images of national celebration and political activism.

Museums Sheffield began collecting photographs in the 1970s. Since then, the collection has continued to grow and now spans photography from the early 1900s through to the present day. This exhibition brings together a series of highlights from the collection, many of which have not been on display for over 20 years.

The exhibition is supported by loans from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Hyman Collection.