Every great portrait speaks for itself. Its tone may be dignified or defiant, confrontational or conspiratorial, it addresses the viewer directly, a visual declaration whose powers is immediate and unstable. It seems simple, yet it is not.Each photograph is this magnificent collection stand proudly on its own- taken together, they tell a much more complex and subtle story of an ever-evolving art form in constant, creative response to new technologies,new ears, and new ideas. Through decades separate them, there's an obvious kinship between, say, an Edward Curtis portrait of a 19th-century Native American and Steve McCurry's arresting 1984 image of an Afghan refugee girl, but equally as fascinating is the way each of them reflect it's own time and also changes how we see what came before.