Helping to preserve images with historic or cultural value by identifying suitable archives in institutional collections, and assisting families and estates prepare collections for permanent placement
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.…
FfPP’s founder Al Weber died February 27, 2016 just two months shy of his 86th birthday. To say he will be missed is a serious understatement, not just by his friends and colleagues at FfPP, but by the many photographers he mentored over a long career as a teacher and commercial photographer.
He always rejected the term “artist” being applied to him, but he would not object if he was referred to as a master craftsman of both black and white and color photography. Regardless of whether he was photographing children, the lines of architecture or the abstract contours of the earth as seen from an airplane, Al brought a consummate level of craftsmanship to all of his projects.
Article reproduced here with permission from the copyright holder LensWork Publishing (www.lenswork.com). All Rights Reserved.
First, let me emphatically state that I blame no one but myself. No one talked me into this situation, and it’s my responsibility to now deal with the consequences.
Just to clarify, I’m referring to the stacks (and stacks) of Light Impression’s boxes that hold some fifteen hundred finished prints in my personal archives that I made under what I now consider to be false premises.…
Our involvement with “The Golden Decade, Photography at the California School of Fine Arts” started after my father, Don Whyte, passed away in Santa Rosa, California, in 1989. He had bequeathed to my husband, Ken, his darkroom equipment as they shared a passion for photography. None of my siblings wanted to deal with all the rest of the contents of the very packed darkroom; they felt it was overwhelming and their suggestion was to throw it all in the burn can that was sitting just outside the darkroom door!…
“Well, I guess it would be okay for me to die now”. This was the surprising and unbidden thought that entered my mind when I turned the pages of a “just off the press” copy of my first book, Along the Way. And the very next thing that popped into my head: “Where the hell did that thought come from?”…
Article reproduced here with permission from the copyright holder LensWork Publishing (www.lenswork.com). All Rights Reserved.
I was recently reminded (once again) that I am mortal. I’m reasonably sure most of you are, too. And although it’s not something we prefer to dwell on, the reality of it is undeniable and the implications for our artwork are inevitable.…
In his later years, Don was an early & enthusiastic convert to digital photography. He digitized many of his negatives, older & more recent ones alike, and with a dedicated printer, he learned to make ink prints that were indistinguishable from his early silver prints.
Throughout my career I have had several books published by traditional publishers as well as self-publishing a half-dozen through the on-line process. I have found numerous advantages and disadvantages to each method, but I will restrain my comments to the on-line version in this article.
One of the principle advantages of on-line publishing is that you choose to do it without the necessity of convincing a traditional publisher that your work is worthy of their investment of time and money.…
The basis for copyright protection in the United States is the Copyright Act ---Title 17 of the United States Code. Section 102 of the Act protects “original works of authorship” that are “fixed in a tangible medium.” Photographs and other forms of visual images are protected under Section 102(5) of the Act, which refers to “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.” A copyright holder in a photograph is afforded a package of exclusive rights under Section 106 including reproduction rights, adaptation (derivative) rights, distribution rights and public performance and display rights.
My good friend Al Weber has been rescuing photographs for many years. If you’ve hung out with Al, you may be familiar with the story of Steve Crouch. The life work of this preeminent west coast photographer was literally in a pickup truck headed for the dump when Al saved it from destruction. After Steve’s death, the family was cleaning out the darkroom and had no idea that anyone would be interested in all that “junk.” If Al had hesitated and arrived a few minutes too late, none of Steve’s impressive black and white and color work would have survived.
After his death in March 2009, his widow Barbara Lebeck, called Al Weber asking for suggestions about what could be done with Jerry's extensive body of photographs, made both as a student and professional photographer, dating from the 1950s to the 2000s.
This page discusses defining the physical nature of a collection, makes suggestions about an inventory, and provides links to more detailed information about specific issues.
In order to interest potential institutions in your collection, all parties need to know its content and condition. You could start with the provenance of what you have, how and why it exists, and who collected or compiled it. The collection must be surveyed and counted, making sure to register any identification and dating found on the negatives, prints, or other types of photographs.