Photographs

Among the well over 100,000 photographic images in the collection of the Gledhill Library at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, the Santa Barbara Mission is well represented.  From the earliest days of photography in this area photographers, amateur and professional, have been drawn to the South Coast’s most recognizable landmark.  For some 160 years the Mission has been portrayed on prints, on 35 millimeter slides, on stereographs, and in postcards and these images have been rendered in black and white, in color, sepia, and in the vibrant blue shadings of cyanotypes.

The cache of Mission photographs at the Gledhill captures not only the buildings and grounds and the changes they have undergone over time, but also comprise a visual document of the life of the Franciscan community there as well as the role the Mission has played in the larger Santa Barbara community.  Please enjoy this selection of images of the “Queen of the Missions.”

Learn More

You can view many more photos in our Gledhill Library!