Larry Racioppo collection
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Abstract
Materials documenting the career of New York based photographer Larry Racioppo.
Biographical Note
Larry Racioppo was born and raised in South Brooklyn, and has been photographing throughout New York City since 1971. A former VISTA Volunteer, and participant in NYC's Cultural Council Foundation's CETA Artists Project, Racioppo had his first solo exhibit in 1977 at Brooklyn's f-stop Gallery. His first book of photographs, Halloween, was published by Scribners in 1980.
From 1989-2011, Larry was the official photographer for NYC's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, hired to document the city's rebuilding of distressed neighborhoods, including Bedford Stuyvesant, Harlem and the South Bronx. After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography in 1997, Racioppo took a leave from HPD to work on a series of personal projects, including FORGOTTEN GATEWAY, the Abandoned Buildings of Ellis Island, a travelling exhibit of his photographs that originated at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
In 2006 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Chairman's Extraordinary Action Grant for his exhibit The Word on the Street at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York. Racioppo's photographs are in the collections of the Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, El Museo del Barrio, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. His second book, Brooklyn Before: Photographs, 1971–1983 was published by Cornell University Press in 2018.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in seven series:
Series 1: Exhibits is arranged chronologically. When multiple exhibits appear in a given year the folders are arranged alphabetically by exhibit space.
Series 2: Press is arranged chronologically.
Series 3: Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by subject with the exception of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which is foldered together regardless of subject.
Series 4: Freelance Assignments is arranged alphabetically by the hiring organization.
Series 5: New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development is arranged alphabetically by project.
Series 6: Project Notes and Research is arranged alphabetically by project.
Series 7: Photographs is boxed by image size and foldered alphabetically by project, with the exception of Brooklyn Before, B-Ball NYC, and Coney Island Baby, which are listed at the end of the series.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of items documenting the career of New York based photographer Larry Racioppo. Exhibit materials for both solo and group shows span over 40 years and include promotional materials, photographs and notes. Correspondence includes communications regarding funding opportunities, his Guggenheim Fellowship, recommendations and thank you notes from professional contacts.
Reports, brochures and calendars make up the bulk of Racioppo's freelance assignments and his work for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Research materials for personal photography projects include scouting and shooting notes with copies of relevant maps and atlas pages. The Theater Project makes up the bulk of the Project Notes and Research series.
Photographs printed for various exhibits and publications are also included. Folders that include publications are dated to reflect the year of publication, not the date of the included photographs.
Subjects
Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Use
Larry Racioppo retains copyright to all images. While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Larry Racioppo collection, BCMS.0053, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Provenance
This collection was acquired between 2014-2022 through a series of purchases and donations from Larry Racioppo.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
A portion of the materials in this collection are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org at least three weeks prior to research visit.
