The Ryerson Image Centre will exhibit what it calls “one of Canada’s great holdings of photography” when it displays more than 200 pictures from the private collection of Howard and Carole Tanenbaum.

Howard, a Toronto lawyer, financier and real estate developer, and Carole, an expert on vintage costume jewelry, began collecting in the mid-’70s, the image centre says, when dealers and galleries committed to photography were just emerging.

“Because photography was considered a secondary medium for so long, it was quite challenging to find people who were interested,” Carole Tanenbaum said in a news release.

The RIC describes the photos as “humanistic,” treating such subjects as family, wealth, poverty, civil rights, nature and Canadian life; in genres including studio portraiture, commercial landscapes, family photos, art photography, fashion and documentary work; and from anonymous imagery to masterworks from well known photographers.

The exhibit, True to the Eyes: The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Photography Collection, will include works that span the history of the medium, displayed chronologically, including photos by Southworth & Hawes, William Notman, Ernest J. Bellocq, Brassaï, Lisette Model, Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark, Jim Goldberg and Edward Burtynsky. It opens Jan. 23 with a free, public party at 6 p.m. and continues to April 7, 2019.

“For the Tanenbaums, collecting is more a social and creative act than a solitary pursuit,” Paul Roth, director of the RIC, said in the news release. “They appreciate photographs for the pleasure they bring, but also as catalysts for understanding.”

The couple run the Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Charitable Foundation. They were instrumental in Ryerson’s 2005 acquisition of the Black Star Collection of almost 300,000 black and white photographs from the 20th century and helped ensure the continuation of the Kodak Lecture Series on campus. Howard is also a founding chair of the Ryerson Image Centre advisory board.

The exhibit, sponsored by the Walrus and the Toronto Star, will be accompanied by a book published in partnership with Hirmer Verlag.

See ryersonimagecentre.ca for information.