With the exception of a half-dozen extraordinary early images, the 165 photographs by Harry Callahan in the Bell Gallery collection were taken in the three decade period between 1960 and 1990. These dates bracket Callahan's time in New England—from his arrival in Providence in 1961 to his retirement to Atlanta, Georgia.

Born in Detroit, Callahan studied at Michigan State University before going to work for the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation. In 1936, he married Eleanor Knapp, who later became the subject of some of his most important images. Callahan bought his first camera in 1938, and credits Ansel Adams' visit to the Detroit Photo Guild in 1941 as pivotal in his decision to become a photographer. Although he had almost no formal artistic training he received encouragement early in his career from such luminaries as Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen. At the invitation of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Callahan joined the staff of the Institute of Design in Chicago (later known as the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1946. In 1948 his work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Callahan left Chicago in 1961 to establish a photography program at the Rhode Island School of Design. There he was joined by Aaron Siskind (who had been a colleague at IIT). Callahan was chair of the Department of Photography until 1973 and continued to teach at RISD thru 1977.

Callahan's legacy as a photographer and educator earned him many honors. His work was the subject of a retrospective at the MoMA in 1976 and at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1996. In 1977 he was selected to represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale, the first photographer to be so honored.

Callahan works in the David Winton Bell Gallery collection are gift of: Dr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Chazen; Dr. and Mrs. Wm. Tsiaras; J. Terrence Murray; Wayne Baden: and the Albert and Vera List Purchase Fund