I have actively photographed and printed most of my own work for over 40 years. This has resulted in an extensive accumulation of photographs, most of which have been separated into related, smaller collections or “Bodies of Work”. I am a member of FfPP and have served as their Treasurer for the last seven years. Inspired by FfPP’s mission, I undertook the job to try and find willing locations to accept some of these smaller portfolios. I have to acknowledge that at my age, and with decreasing storage space at home, this presented a looming problem. The FfPP website offered practical suggestions that led me to find homes for some of my work.
Project One – Rock Art
In the late 1990’s, Al Weber, Founder of FfPP, led several workshops in the remote canyons of the Coso Mountains, which are enclosed by the US Navy’s China Lake Test Range in California’s Mojave Desert. These canyons hold some of the greatest concentrations of rock art in North America. The nearby town of Ridgecrest is the location of the Maturango Museum, which is dedicated to educating the public about the wonders of these canyons, as well as leading group tours when the Navy allows them.
As a result of being in four of Al’s workshops to these canyons, followed by many hours of darkroom work, I had generated a collection of over 30 Ilfochrome color prints, all matted. While I loved the photographs, there was little opportunity to exhibit or share them.
I contacted the Maturango Museum to determine their interest and soon received a positive reply. Within months, a visit (during Covid) was arranged, and I arrived with two portfolio boxes of photographs. While there, the curator laid out the work on tables for the staff to see. It was most gratifying for me to see how pleased the museum was to have this collection. I granted them rights to use the work for any purpose. A future gallery show was also promised.
Project Two – Orchards
In 1999, I began a solo, multiyear project to photograph the extensive orchards of California’s Central Valley. I found the peach and almond orchards of Stanislaus County quite beautiful in both the spring and fall seasons. Again, after many hours of darkroom work, and later conversion of the film to make digital versions of these photographs, I had over 30 matted prints. I had been fortunate to exhibit a dozen of the Ilfochromes in an earlier 2003 museum show in Turlock, CA. In 2021, I contacted this same museum to see if they might be interested in acquiring the body of work. Their reply was that they were not able to do this, but the director was kind enough to send me four other possible locations to contact.
Ultimately, the Central Valley Museum, located on the campus of Modesto Junior College, was happy to accept all of the prints and all future rights, which I again granted. The visit went extremely well. The curator went through all the prints while I was there, asking questions so he understood the basics of the portfolio.
So, sharing from my experience, if you are looking to find new homes for your beloved collections of photographs, it might be useful to see if your city or county has a museum or local historical society. In particular, if your work captures landscapes or scenes of historical importance, curators might have great interest to add them to their archives. If reducing the size of your personal collection is an objective, you will not only benefit from doing something like this, but you increase the likelihood that your work will live on after you’re gone, and perhaps provide future generations the enjoyment and education of seeing what you saw.