By the end of the nineteenth century it became possible to reproduce photographs alongside text in books, magazines and newspapers. The new technology led to the establishment of a number of commercial publications, which employed photographers who went on to establish their careers in this medium. The picture essay was first developed by Münchner Illustrierte Presse in 1928 in Germany and simultaneously by Vu in Paris. Life was founded in the United States in 1936 and Picture Post appeared in England in 1938. These and other picture magazines were important venues where the genre of photojournalism was fostered and where the ´day in the life´ and the photo essay proved to be effective ways to communicate a range of issues from serious social concerns to more light-hearted subject matter.

Photographers took advantage of the technical advances credited with making magazine photography viable. One in particular was the invention of the hand-held 35mm camera, which was miniscule in scale compared to the older camera equipment and could make exposures with less light without using flash. Illustrated newspapers and magazines continued to thrive well into the 1950s, but the demand for photojournalistic stories declined due to television, which offered a wide and growing audience more immediate news coverage. From the Printed Page, an exhibition of 28 photographs dating from the late 1920s to the 1960s, highlights the work made specifically with the printed page in mind.