Photographer File
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The collection is a file containing photographs, mainly of New York City, taken by notable photographers including Berenice Abbott; Lilyan Aloma; Joseph Aronberg; Alice Austen; Jim Beecher; Paul Bernius; Alice Boughton; Margaret Bourke-White; Rudy Burckhardt; Lawrence Cherney; William Cooper; Jeff Cowen; Melody D.Davis; Arnold Eagle; Joyce Edelman; Seymour Edelstein; Charlotte Fairchild; Harold Feinstein; Mark Feldstein; Steven Fenn; Geral Jude James Festa; Peter Fink; Andrew Garn; Lynn Gilbert; Keith Gould; Seth Greenwald; Serge Hambourg; Ben Heller; Evelyn Hofer; Steve Hoffman; Francis Benjamin Johnston; Raphael Kalmonoff; Karen Kent; Martin Leifer; Gina LeVay; Ann Littlejohn; Danny Lyon; Chris Mackey; Thomas McGovern; Neil Meyerhoff; Alexander Mikhailovich; Peter Nappi; Bob Newey; Dinanda Nooney; Clayton Price; Emery Reves-Biro; Orville Roberts; Laura Rosen; Fred Rosenberg; Thurman Rotan; James Rudnick; Marie Louise Russell; Arthur Sacks; Frederico Savini; Richard Schiffman; Marcia Sheer; Eve Stroh; Joan Vitale Strong; Leon Supraner; Donna Svennevik; Gilles Vauclaire; Wolf Von dem Bussche; Ray Waters; Richard Wilcox, John Wyatt; Paula Wright
Historical Note
The Photographer File is an artificial collection of photographs that have been acquired through donation or purchase from prominent photographers. Photographs in this collection were often acquired in small numbers or for exhibitions at The New-York Historical Society. Some of the photographs in this collection were included in The New-York Historical Society exhibit "Manhattan Now: 14 Photographers Look at the Form of the City" in 1974, or the 1981 exhibit "Manhattan Observed: Fourteen Photographers Look at New York, 1972-1981." The Photographer File has developed over the years as a collection to house photographs of New York, often by well-known New York photographers. While the file consists mostly of work from the 1930s through the present, photographs by some early portrait photographers, such as Alice Boughton, Frances Benjamin Johnson, Charlotte Fairchild, Underwood & Underwood, and William A. Cooper are also included.
Arrangement
The finding aid is organized alphabetically by photographer's name; photographs are housed by size.
Scope and Content Note
The Photographer File dates primarily from 1930 through the present, but includes a few photographs by prominent photographers from as early as ca. 1882. The finding aid is arranged alphabetically by photographer's name; photographs are housed by size. Because of the varied nature of this collection, the photographs have been described more fully under each photographer's name in the folder listing. Researchers should be aware that in most cases the permission of the photographer is required for reproduction of images.
Included within this collection are photographs by Berenice Abbott; Lilyan Aloma; Joseph Aronberg; Alice Austen; Jim Beecher; Paul Bernius; Alice Boughton; Margaret Bourke-White; Rudy Burckhardt; Lawrence Cherney; William Cooper; Jeff Cowen; Melody D.Davis; Arnold Eagle; Joyce Edelman; Seymour Edelstein; Charlotte Fairchild; Harold Feinstein; Mark Feldstein; Steven Fenn; Gerald Jude James Festa; Peter Fink; Andrew Garn; Lynn Gilbert; Keith Gould; Seth Greenwald; Serge Hambourg; Ben Heller; Evelyn Hofer; Steve Hoffman; Francis Benjamin Johnston; Raphael Kalmonoff; Rivka Katvan; Karen Kent; Martin Leifer; Gina LeVay; Ann Littlejohn; Danny Lyon; Chris Mackey; Thomas McGovern; Neil Meyerhoff; Alexander Mikhailovich; Peter Nappi; Bob Newey; Dinanda Nooney; Clayton Price; Emery Reves-Biro; Orville Roberts; Laura Rosen; Fred Rosenberg; Thurman Rotan; James Rudnick; Marie Louise Russell; Arthur Sacks; Frederico Savini; Richard Schiffman; Marcia Sheer; Eve Stroh; Joan Vitale Strong; Leon Supraner; Donna Svennevik; Gilles Vauclaire; Wolf Von dem Bussche; Ray Waters; John Wyatt; Paula Wright. Prominent people portrayed in this collection include Bill Cunningham, David Dinkins, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Doc Cheatham, Henry James, Charles Dana Gibson, Billie Jean King.
Subjects
Genres
People
Topics
Access Restrictions
For more information on making arrangements to consult the collection, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Photographer File, PR 050, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most of the photographs within the Photographer File were purchased from or donated by the photographers, often for use in exhibitions. Larger gifts include the following: photographs by Alice Austen were a gift of Henry Marion Ward in 1942; Jim Beecher donated his photographs in 1986; Chris Mackey donated her photographs in 1983; Sy Edelstein donated his photographs in 1994; Wolf Von Dem Bussche's photographs were a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy A. Eaton in 1997; Arthur Sacks donated his photographs in 1987; Paula Wright donated her 1964-1965 World's Fair photographs in 1993; 11 photographs by Joyce Edelman were donated by Deborah Edelman in 1992; Charles Schwartz donated photographs by a number of photographers in 2002, and Fred Rosenberg donated his photographs in 2004.
Separated Material
Photographs by the following have been removed to their own collections over time: Ruth Orkin (PR 190), Bill Aron (PR 192), Sidney Kerner (PR 193), Morris Huberland (PR 194), Harold Roth (PR 195), Lewis F. White (PR 196), Rhoda Galyn (PR 197), Robert Gambee (PR 198), Michael George (PR 199), David Sagarin (PR 200), Jan Staller (PR 201), Philip Trager (PR 202), Eadweard Muybridge (PR 205), William F. Winter (PR 206), Andreas Feininger (PR 207), Bill Cunningham (PR 307), Janelle Lynch (PR 344), Steven Harmon (PR 362), Ken Ratner (PR 373), Samuel Gottscho (PR 423), Bob Gore (PR 424).
Accruals
Additions to the collection are expected to occur from time to time, both for additional photographs and for photographs by photographers not presently represented in the collection. On the other hand, as has happened in the past, a curatorial decision may be made to transfer a particular photographer's work from this collection to a standalone collection of their own.
About this Guide
Processing Information Note
Additions processed by archivists Marybeth Kavanagh in 2016-2017, Joseph Ditta in 2019, and Larry Weimer in 2019-20, 2022.