In 1990, The Print Center organized an exhibition of works by the Philadelphia photographer Robert Cornelius entitled Abandoned Shoes of Philadelphia. Professor Cornelius is one of the founders of Pittsburgh’s Silver Eye Center for Photography and has taught photography at several institutions including the Art Institute of Philadelphia. This series was sparked by his move to Philadelphia where he walked where his ancestors had walked. He is the great-great-grandson of Robert Cornelius, the pioneering photographer, who is best known for taking a self-portrait in 1839 that is the oldest known existing photographic portrait of a human in America.
All works below were created by Robert Cornelius between 1985-1990. They are selenium toned gelatin silver prints, 9 x 13.5 inches or 13.5 x 9 inches.
