Southeast Museum of Photography in Daytona Beach, FL

A division of the Daytona State College, the Southeast Museum of Photography “exhibits, collects, preserves, and interprets photography to facilitate teaching and learning at Daytona State College, and enhances the community's understanding and appreciation of culture, history, art and photography.” One of just 13 museums in the country that is dedicated solely to exhibiting the art of photography, this Florida museum opened in 1992 and is the largest museum of its kind in the southeastern United States.

The Southeast Museum of Photography recently moved to a new home with a central location on International Speedway Boulevard. The new location provides more gallery space for exhibits as well as education and workshop space, offices, a lecture area with theater seating, seminar rooms, a public-access reference and resource library, a museum book store, a screening room, and a coffee shop.

The museum has an impressive permanent collection that is housed in a climate-controlled storage facility. Pieces of the collection are shown on a rotating basis. Typically, there are about 20 exhibitions a year at the museum. About 300 exhibitions have been presented since the museum’s 1992 opening. Many of them have been significant to the region or to Florida in general and quite a few are produced by photographers from The Sunshine State. With each exhibit, the museum strives “to demonstrate photography's role and function as both a means of representation and a tool for individual expression." Many of the exhibits are considered to be world-class and have included works by most major photographic artists of the present and past, including such well-known names in the world of photography as Andre Kertesz, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Robert Rauschenberg, Alex Webb, Susan Mieselas, Steve McCurry, Eugene Richards, and Paul Fusco.

The Southeast Museum of Photography also offers a wide variety of educational programs for patrons of all ages. Lectures are frequent, generally about 3 or 4 each month, and are on a wide variety of topics or works. Film and video programs are offered frequently as well and include an afternoon matinee series that profiles cinematic interpretations of well-known plays, operas, and musicals, as well as the “Dinner and a Movie” series, which includes a vintage flick and a chance to enjoy dinner at the onsite Café 101. These film series are generally geared towards adults. The museum staff also leads frequent Gallery Talks, discussions that are prompted by current exhibits at the museum. There’s also a Wednesday evening seminar series for adults. Guests may pre-register for such one seminar or opt to sign up for the whole series. Prices are reasonable.

Children are heartily welcomed at this museum as well and the facility hosts a number of parent-child programs through its educational division. Kids will enjoy such activities as making pop-art t-shirts, designing photo patchwork quilts, or simply learning how to take quality photographs. The programs are popular so reservations are essential.

 The museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday with limited hours during the months that school is not in session. Group tours are available and admission is free.

Return to Daytona Beach Guide Home Page

Text copyright 2006-2009 DaytonaBeachTourGuide.com and may not be reproduced without consent. This is not the official web page of any of the products or places listed on this site, this is a review page created by an individual.