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Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt collection of photographs

Call Number

PR 305

Date

1900-2002, inclusive

Creator

Sonnenfeldt, Michael W.

Extent

25 Linear feet in 42 boxes

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Black and white entertainment-themed publicity and on-set photography, portraiture, and photojournalism spanning the twentieth century; subjects depicted include New York-based theatrical productions, Hollywood stars, newscasters, politicians, and other pop culture figures. Also depicted are New York sports, political activism, and other events in the 1960s-90s.

Biographical / Historical

Jill Freedman

Jill Freedman (1939) is a New York-based documentary photographer best known for her images of New York City street life. Two major projects (which were later published as books) involved documenting New York City firefighters and police officers. Freedman embedded herself in fire stations, and then in precinct houses, to capture these civil servants in their work with the public and behind the scenes. Freedman's work is included in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the International Center for Photography, and the Smithsonian, among others.

Friedman-Abeles Studio

Photographers Joseph Abeles (1908-1991) and Leo Friedman (1919-2011) began their partnership in 1954, with a studio located at 351 West 54th Street in Manhattan. They specialized in documenting stage sets and productions and producing theatrical portraits. Abeles did the portraits at the studio, and Friedman worked in the theaters (usually at dress rehearsals or out-of-town openings), capturing the stage show from the point of view of the audience. Together, they created a photographic record of Broadway shows and the New York theatre world. Their partnership ended acrimoniously around 1970.

Philippe Halsman

Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) was born in Riga, Latvia and began his photographic career in Paris. In 1940, fleeing the Nazis, Halsman arrived in the United States. Halsman's career over the next 30 years centered on reportage and cover shoots for many major American magazines, including 101 covers for LIFE magazine. These assignments put him in contact with many of the century's leading statesmen, scientists, artists and entertainers. Halsman maintained a thirty-seven year collaboration with Salvador Dali, which resulted in a stream of unusual "photographs of ideas," including "Dali Atomicus" and the "Dali's Mustache" series. In the early 1950s, Halsman began to ask his subjects to jump for his camera at the conclusion of each sitting. These energetic images are an important part of his photographic legacy.

Fred McDarrah

Fred William McDarrah (1926-2007) was an American photographer best known for his work for The Village Voice. He made his name documenting the cultural phenomenon known as the Beat Generation from its inception in the 1950s. McDarrah also documented the New York art world during the late 1950s. Many of his subjects, often little known when McDarrah shot them, became cultural icons, including Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and Allen Ginsberg.

Born in Brooklyn, McDarrah bought his first camera at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. After leaving Boys High School, he served as a U.S. Army paratrooper during World War II. He earned a Journalism degree from New York University on the G.I. Bill. He began to photograph the artists, writers, musicians, and actors who frequented the bars and coffee houses, art galleries and cafes in Greenwich Village because he wanted to document what he called, "The most colorful community of interesting people, fascinating places, and dynamic ideas." When an acquaintance told McDarrah he was starting a newspaper, to be called The Village Voice, McDarrah signed on. He was for decades the paper's only staff photographer and its first picture editor. In addition to covering Greenwich Village arts and culture scene, McDarrah also documented off-Broadway theater, demonstrations including the Women's Rights, Gay Rights, Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War marches, the first Earth Day, and experimental theater. He was associated with The Village Voice for 50 years.

Ken Regan and Camera 5

Photojournalist Ken Regan (d. 2012) worked for over five decades prolifically documenting pop culture, sports, foreign conflicts, and other current events. Credited with over 200 magazine covers, Regan was most well-known for a discretion and professionalism which earned him intimate shooting access to famous politicians, musicians, and other celebrities.

Born in the Bronx, Regan received a camera for his 12th birthday and began shooting sports and musical events as the Mount Saint Michael Academy school photographer. He studied journalism at Columbia and attended New York University Film School. His first paid assignment, from the New York Times Sunday Magazine, was to cover the famous Thanksgiving rock concert at the Fillmore East featuring Jefferson Airplane and Johnny Winter; his work ultimately resulted in a three-page spread. Regan sent self-made prints of his work along with a thank you note to the concert promoter Bill Graham. This unusual practice, which he continued throughout his career, inaugurated a symbiotic relationship with Graham, who later established Regan as house photographer to The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

Regan also covered major sports events for magazines such as Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, and Newsweek. In the 1970s he founded Camera 5, an agency of 15 photographers who covered wars, riots and demonstrations, and other national and international hard news and human interest stories.

In addition, Regan served as the self-proclaimed "unofficial Kennedy family photographer" for thirty years, amassing one of the largest bodies of photographs of the political dynasty in both public and private settings.

Regan's work continually appeared in a wide range of major publications including Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and People, who often called upon Regan to capture unguarded moments from camera weary celebrities. Regan additionally published Knockout: The Art of Boxing in 2007.

Of his photography goals, Regan said "I think that if you're able to capture an image that nobody else has then that's what makes the image important; that's what people are interested in." Regan developed continuing working relationships with directors Jonathan Demme and Clint Eastwood, among others, for whom he shot on-set production photography. Regan died on November 25, 2012.

Martha Swope and Swope Associates

Martha Swope (1928-2017), founder of Swope Associates, was a former dancer who began her photographic career in the 1950s as a freelance photographer specializing in dance and theater. Swope took thousands of photos of the original casts of shows, shooting theatrical productions and the rehearsal process for publicity and documentary purposes.

Born February 22, 1928 in Texas, Swope studied dance at City Ballet's training affiliate, the School of American Ballet, while pursuing photography on the side. She met Jerome Robbins while he was taking class to prepare for West Side Story. Robbins invited Swope to photograph rehearsals for West Side Story, and when one of her images was published in LIFE magazine, Swope began her career in photography.

She was the official photographer for the New York City Ballet and other dance troupes. She chronicled the working lives of George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, and other icons of 20th-century dance. She was also a photographer for the theater industry, documenting more than 800 stage productions. Swope won a Tony Honor for Excellence in 2004, and a lifetime achievement award from the League of Professional Theatre Women in 2007.

Vandamm Studio

Florence Vandamm (1883-1966) was one of the most prolific and widely published female commercial photographers of the early 20th century. Founder of Vandamm Studio (in operation in New York from 1924 to 1964), Vandamm has been credited as the inventor of the modern-day head shot and noted for her use of lighting, costume and movement. The studio was run by Florence Vandamm and her husband George R. Thomas, and their photographs capture the New York theater world from 1923-1950.

Florence Vandamm was born in England in 1883 and studied to be a painter of portraits and miniatures. She learned photography only as a complement to her other art, but it soon became her focus. In 1908, at the age of 25, she opened her first portrait photography studio in London. In 1917, she married an American man, George R. Thomas, and they opened a studio specializing in fashion photography. In 1923, they moved to New York City and opened Vandamm Studio on West 57th Street in Manhattan. Florence focused on taking the portraits and publicity shots in the couple's studio on West 57th Street, while Thomas took full-stage production shots. When her husband died in 1944, Vandamm took over production shots as well as portraits. She retired in 1950, leaving the studio to her associates, having created an important visual record of American theater.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into six series. The first three series comprise the material donated by Michael Sonnenfeldt in 2013. These three series are arranged according to theme:

I. New York Theatre

II. Hollywood Film

III. Ken Regan and Camera 5

Select materials in the first three series were laminated for retail through Jay Parrino's The Mint and are housed separately, as depicted in the container list.

Series IV through Series VI are comprised of subsequent donations by Michael Sonnenfeldt and Katja B. Goldman. These series are arranged chronologically:

Series IV: 2015 Accruals

Series V: 2016 Accruals

Series VI: 2018 Accruals

The material within these series is arranged by creator.

Scope and Contents

This collection of entertainment-themed photography and photojournalism includes publicity and on-set production coverage; portraits of theatre performers, movie stars, atheletes, politicans, and other 20th-century pop culture figures; and sports and cultural and political event photojournalism. The materials are arranged into six series.

Series I-III contain photographs donated by Katja B. Gaoldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt in 2013, and are arranged by subject.

Series I: New York Theatre, comprises a diverse range of early 20th-century publicity, production, and portrait photography. The materials span a dynamic period in New York's theater history: from the early development of the Broadway theatre district in Times Square, through the peak periods of creativity and output between the wars, to post-Depression maturity and evolution in dramatic and musical form. Images document the genres musical comedy, operetta, melodrama, farce, and the revue shows pioneered by Florence Ziegfeld. Many of Broadway history's notable performers, theaters, producers, and works appear alongside less documented and non-canonical productions and figures.

Series II: Hollywood Film, represents the American film industry's publicity output between 1920 and 1960, from the late silent period into what is generally regarded as the "Golden Era." In this period, the studios meticulously and rigorously controlled the image of their contracted stars, generating and distributing photographs to fans and publications. The work of the pioneer film portraitists depicted in the collection, including esteemed artist Clarence S. Bull of MGM, helped define careers and created a resonating iconography of Hollywood. Legendary and established stars appear in the collection alongside character actors, ingenues, and animal performers in a variety of studio shots and off-set candids.

Series III: Ken Regan and Camera 5 includes work from the five decade career of photojournalist Regan, who chiefly covered sports, pop culture, and current events for a variety of major publications. Regan's renowned discretion earned him intimate shooting access to many public figures, including the Kennedys and Rolling Stones, portraiture of whom appear in the collection alongside other performers, newscasters, athletes, politicians, and various celebrities. Other Regan work includes coverage of film and television production sets, sporting events, and political activist rallies, most of which are based in New York City. An unrelated subseries of photographs taken of memorials and exhibitions at Dachau, the former German concentration camp, appears at the end of the series.

Series IV through Series VI are comprised of subsequent donations by Michael Sonnenfeldt and Katja B. Goldman. They contain the work of photojournalists Philippe Halsman, Jill Freedman, Fred McDarrah and Ken Regan who each documented various aspects of American life and culture in the second half of the 20th century. Also within these series is the work of photographers and photo studios who specialized in theatrical portraits and publicity shots for Broadway productions, including the Friedman-Abeles Studio, Martha Swope and Swope Associates, and the Vandamm Studio. Series IV-VI are arranged chronologically by donation date, and the material within each series is arranged by creator:

Series IV: 2015 Accruals consists of material donated by Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt in 2015. It includes photographs by Jill Freedman, Fred McDarrah, and Ken Regan and Camera 5.

Series V: 2016 Accruals consists of material donated by Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt in 2016. It includes photographs by Friedman-Abeles, Philippe Halsman, Martha Swope, and Vandamm Studio.

Series VI: 2018 Accruals consists of material donated by Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt in 2018. It includes photographs by Friedman-Abeles, Fred McDarrah, Ken Regan and Camera 5, Martha Swope, and Vandamm Studio. It also includes a group of portraits of actors taken by various photographers. Some of these photographers are identified on the verso, while some are unidentified.

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

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt Collection of Photographs, PR 305, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Credit line should read: Gift of Michael Sonnenfeldt and Katja B. Goldman.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018.

The Series I-III materials were originally assembled by Culver Pictures, founded in 1926. D. Jay Culver supplemented income from his day job on the drama desk of the Philadelphia Evening Ledger with weekly research trips to New York City as a "free-lance picture detective" for magazines including the Saturday Evening Post and Collier's. Culver ultimately abandoned journalism to amass, create, copy, repurpose, and loan publicity photographs in his early iteration of a stock photography service, based in New York. He acquired a wide range of materials, from the Civil War work of Matthew Brady to turn-of-the-century police gazettes to the morgues of defunct magazines. His personal passion was movie stills, of which he became one of the first known collectors, allegedly amassing over three million. Culver's daughter Harriet continues to operate the family business as a digital archive of 19th- and early-20th-century printed imagery out of Long Island City, NY.

Separated Materials

This collection formerly contained material from collectors/donors other than Katja B. Goldman and Michael Sonnefeldt. This material was removed in 2019, and was organized into separate collections. These collections are:

PR 383 David Backman Collection of Photographs

PR 378 Edward Farbenblum and Orly Lieberman Collection of Photographs

PR 380 James and Georganne Garfinkel Collection of Photographs

PR 379 Mordechai Littman Collection of Photographs

Related Materials at Other Institutions

Ken Regan Photographs, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Sources

Blum, Daniel C. A pictorial history of the American theatre, 100 years--1860-1960. New York: Bonanza Books, 1960.
Atkinson, Brooks. Broadway. New York: Macmillan.
Bull, Clarence S. and Lee, Raymond. The faces of Hollywood. South Brunswick, NJ: A.S. Barnes, 1968.
Dance, Robert and Taylor, John. Glamour of the gods. London: Steidl, 2008.
Pepper. Terence and Kobal, John. The man who shot Garbo: The Hollywood photographs of Clarence Sinclair Bull. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
Ken Regan, Photojournalist Trusted by Celebrities, Dies. New York Times, 30 November 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/arts/ken-regan-photojournalist-celebrities-trusted-is-dead.html?smid=pl-share [accessed May 2014]
Camera 5. Ken Regan - Biography. http://www.kenregan.com/#/biography [Accessed May 2014]
Culture Brats. Interview with Ken Regan, October 2011. http://www.culturebrats.com/2011/10/all-access-our-interview-with-ken-regan.html [Accessed May 2014]
Shields, David S. The Visual Culture of American Theatre 1865-1965. http://broadway.cas.sc.edu/ [Accessed May 2014]

Collection processed by

Brynn White, June, 2014. Revised by Marybeth Kavanagh, 2019.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:00 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Series I-III processed by archivist Brynn White, June 2014.

Series IV-VI processed by archivist Marybeth Kavanagh, June 2019.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024