“Discovering Grant Castner: The Lost Archive of a New Jersey Photographer” contains 200 images from the 1890s through the 1910s, including nearly a dozen taken in Bucks County, along with many taken in nearby portions of New Jersey, including Trenton and Hamilton Township.
The exhibition opens Feb. 3 and runs through Sept. 15, at the New Jersey State Museum, 205 W. State St., Trenton, N.J.
The museum invites you to experience New Jersey and Bucks County history through the recently discovered archive of photographic negatives once belonging to a prolific but long-forgotten local photographer.
The exhibition is curated from photographer Grant Castner’s large archive of original glass plate negatives. Included in the exhibition are rarely seen objects from the Museum’s Cultural History collection that relate to the subject matter in the photos.
Castner (1863-1941), was an amateur photographer born in Belvidere, Warren County, who later lived and worked in Trenton. The images featured reflect Castner’s artistic talent and illustrate numerous aspects of New Jersey history, from pictures of family and friends to the marvels of turn-of-the-century transportation to the flurry of excitement and activity at the famed Inter-state fair in Hamilton Township.
Some of the images are close up portraits of individuals he seems to have known well, their comfort with the photographer apparent in their warm, familiar expressions. Others are people he encountered on his travels around Trenton. He even ventured into some of the area schools and captured images of children at play and at their desks. Castner also photographed the African American community in New Jersey, and a number of those photographs are included in the exhibition.
In 2019, the New Jersey State Museum received a donation of more than a thousand meticulously conserved glass plate negatives. The plates preserve pinpoint moments of everyday life at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibition is arranged by subject matter and includes railroads and canals; down the Shore; New Jerseyans at work; floods, fires and other disasters; and famous landmarks.
General admission is free. For information visit www.statemuseum.nj.gov.
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