Finding aid for the Harry Drinkwater Photographs Documenting Los Angeles Art
and Architecture, 1950-2010
Beth Ann Guynn
Descriptive Summary
Title: Harry Drinkwater photographs documenting Los Angeles art and
Architecture
Date (inclusive): 1950-2010
Number: 2011.R.23
Creator/Collector:
Drinkwater, Harry,
1919-2014
Physical Description:
9 Linear Feet
(5 boxes and 1flatfile)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The collection of over 140 photographic
prints and 1200 negatives represents a portion of the professional and personal output of
Harry Drinkwater, a Venice, California-based Black photographer who documented Los Angeles's
mid-century modern design movement as well as its wider artistic and social circles. Los
Angeles-based Black artists, architects, and designers and their works feature prominently
in the collection.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
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for this collection. Click here for the
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Language: Collection material is in English.
Biographical/Historical Note
Harry W. Drinkwater was born in Bakersfield, California on March 28, 1919 and grew up in
Yountville, in one of the area's only Black families. At around age 13 he left his family
and headed south to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Venice, but returned to Yountville in 1938
to finish high school. He joined the service in 1942 and was stationed in Weymouth, England
as part an all-Black unit of the communication corps. At the very end of his tour of duty a
turn at the camera during the shooting of his company's group photograph provided his first
encounter with the possibilities of photography.
After the war, Drinkwater returned to Bakersfield but eventually made his way to Los
Angeles, where he worked odd jobs, before joining the Civilian Conservation Corps, working
at the Mexico-United States border near Tecate. From 1947 to 1949, Drinkwater used the G. I.
Bill to attend the Fred Archer School of Photography, which had been founded in part to
train veterans. Archer, who worked early on in the pictorialist style, had also been a movie
studio photographer and an early proponent of advertising photography. His curriculum, which
prepared veterans for work in commercial photography, joined formal experimentation with
Hollywood film-style portraiture.
Following his graduation from Archer, Drinkwater worked for the Black community-based
newspapers
The Eagle (1947 to 1949) and
The Sentinel (1949 to 1955), and for
Elegant: The Magazine for Fashionable Living in the 1960s. In the 1950s, he also
worked for Kelsey Screens, manufacturers of shoji-type screens, before becoming the primary
photographer (1958-1961) for the modernist landscape architect, Garret Eckbo, whose
Kandinsky-esque garden designs were influential in the development of mid-century
architectural design. Although Drinkwater's negatives, as work-for-hire, were retained by
Eckbo, his photographs are featured in Eckbo's books
Urban Landscape
Design
(1964) and
The Landscape We See (1969).
From the time he first picked up a camera in the late 1940s Drinkwater never stopped
photographing. His work, at times quite stylized, belongs to a mid-century scene that is
linked to Los Angeles's jazz, Beatnik, and modernist movements. Drinkwater's subjects ranged
from art and architecture, to interior and landscape design, and to popular culture. He
documented the changing cultural landscapes of Venice and Los Angeles, photographing Black
artists and their work, as well as aspects of the area's wider artistic and social circles.
Drinkwater photographed the work of contemporary Los Angeles designers including that of
his close friend, John Smith, who created the interiors of John Lautner's Chemosphere house.
For the landmark 1966 exhibition
66 Signs of Neon, the first
large-scale artistic response to the 1965 Watts Riots, Drinkwater worked with artist Noah
Purifoy to photograph works for its exhibition catalogue
Junk Art: 66
Signs of Neon
. He also documented the work of Los Angeles artists such as DeWain
Valentine and Gordon Wagner.
Drinkwater lived in Venice, California for over six decades, where he was both a fixture
and chronicler of the area's vibrant arts scene. He died in 2014 at the age of 95.
Sources consulted:
Aushenker, Michael. "Harry Drinkwater, 1919 – 2014,"
The
Argonaut
, December 1, 2014.
https://argonautnews.com/harry-drinkwater-1919-2014/
Getty Research Institute. "Modern Art in Los Angeles: Harry Drinkwater Oral History
Interview," 2010, The Getty Research Institute Modern Art in Los Angeles and Pacific
Standard Time Recordings, 2003-, accession number IA40018.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Harry Drinkwater photographs documenting Los Angeles art and architecture, 1950-2004, The
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2011.R.23.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2011r23
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2011.
Processing History
Processed by Beth Ann Guynn in 2015 who wrote the finding aid. Guynn updated the finding
aid in 2020.
Related Archival Materials
The respository's Pacific Standard Time collection contains an interview with Drinkwater
entitled Modern Art in Los Angeles: Harry Drinkwater oral history interview, 2010,
Institutional Archives accession number 2012.IA.101.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection of over 140 photographic prints and 1200 negatives represents a portion of
Harry Drinkwater's professional and personal output and documents Los Angeles's mid-century
design movement as well as its wider artistic and social circles. The Venice-based
photographer's work captures the changing cultural landscapes of Venice and Los Angeles in
the mid- to-late twentieth century: the opening of architect Paul Williams's Golden State
Mutual Insurance Company building in 1949, the first Black owned insurance firm in the city;
the performances of dancers Thelma Oliver and Ruth Saturensky; the artwork of Camille
Billops, Robert Boggs, and Dewain Valentine; and the revitalization of Venice Beach. Black
artists, architects, and designers and their works feature prominently in the
collection.
Series I, Architecture and interior design, 1950-2010, primarily comprises photographs of
work by noted Los Angles-area architects and designers, including Black practitioners such
as Paul and John Williams, John Smith, Robert Kennard, and Tommy Greene. Three negatives
depict Paul Williams's Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building. A few portraits are also
included here, notably one of decorator John Smith seated in John Lautner's Chemosphere
House. The photographs Drinkwater took for Kelsey Screens represent some of his first
architectural work for hire.
Series II, Artists, 1960-2004, comprises a cross section of Drinkwater's documentation of
Southern California artists, filmmakers, gallerists, and actors. Included are views of
artists' studios; photographs of artists and actors at work; and portraits. Black members of
the artistic community represented here include Don Amis, Bill Attaway, Camille Billops,
Roland Charles, Thelma Oliver, and Noah Purifoy. Many of the artists, including Charlie
Nothing, Bill Attaway, and Dewain Valentine, were part of the local Venice Beach art scene,
while others such as Gordon Wagner, Don Amis, Roland Charles, and Noah Purifoy worked in the
greater Los Angeles area. The artists represented range from up-and-coming, to established,
to perennially counterculture artists. Also included here are few of Drinkwater's own
projects as well as portraits of Drinkwater made by unknown photographers. Included are
views of artists' studios; photographs of artists and actors at work; and portraits. Black
members of the artistic community represented here include Don Amis, Bill Attaway, Camille
Billops, Roland Charles, Thelma Oliver, and Noah Purifoy. Many of the artists, including
Charlie Nothing, Bill Attaway, and Dewain Valentine, were part of the local Venice Beach art
scene, while others such as Gordon Wagner, Don Amis, Roland Charles, and Noah Purifoy worked
in the greater Los Angeles area. The artists represented range from up-and-coming, to
established, to perennially counterculture artists. Also included here are few of
Drinkwater's own projects as well as portraits of Drinkwater made by unknown
photographers.
The photographs in Series III are primarily related to Venice, Santa Monica, and other
southern California coastal locations, with an emphasis on Venice Beach and environs, where
Drinkwater lived and worked for over six decades. A black-and-white joined panorama from the
late 1970s or early 1980s records Ocean Front Walk, as it once again became as a tourist
destination after a long decline following the closure of Venice's amusement piers and dance
halls that began in the late 1940s and continued into the 1960s. Drinkwater's photographs
capture the vibrant life of the area from the late 1970s to the beginning of the
twenty-first century. Subjects range from views of legendary cultural venues such as the
Comeback Inn, Venice's jazz showcase, and Mark Kornfeld's Sponto Gallery, to images of
Venice boardwalk street performers, the Venice Graffiti Pit, and the annual Hare Krishna
parade. Also found in this series are views of Santa Monica and other beach communities
taken from the 1960s to the 1980s, and views of Los Angeles freeway construction in
1964.
Arrangement
Organized in three series:
Series I. Architecture and interior design, 1950-2010, undated;
Series II.
Artists, 1960-2004, undated;
Series III. Venice,
Santa Monica and other coastal locations, 1963-2001, undated.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Nothing, Charlie
Valentine, DeWain, 1936-
Wagner, Gordon, 1915-1987
Oliver, Thelma, 1941-
Purifoy, Noah, 1917-2004
Williams, Paul R.,
1894-1980
Attaway, William
Amis, Don
Smith, John
Billops, Camille
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Pereira &
Luckman
Subjects - Topics
Art, American -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Architects -- Los Angeles -- California -- Portraits
Art galleries, Commercial -- California -- Los Angeles
Architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Graffiti -- Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Street art -- Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Waterfronts -- California -- 20th century
Piers -- California -- 20th century
Beaches -- California -- 20th century
Artists -- California -- Portraits
Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California, Southern
African American art -- California -- Los Angeles
Subjects - Places
Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Description and travel
Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Description and
travel
Pacific Ocean Park (Santa Monica, Calif.) -- Description and
travel
Pacific Coast Highway -- Description and travel
Santa Monica (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- 20th
century
Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Social life and customs
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- 20th
century
Genres and Forms of Material
Gelatin silver prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th
century
Black-and-white negatives -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st
century
Digital prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th
century
Digital prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st
century
Panoramas -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Contact sheets -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th
century
Inkjet prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Inkjet prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st century
Chromogenic color prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 21st
century
Chromogenic color prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th
century
Black-and-white negatives -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th
century
Contributors
Drinkwater, Harry,
1919-2014
Series I.
Architecture and interior design,
1950-2010, undated
Physical Description:
1 Linear
Foot
Scope and Content Note
The series primarily comprises photographs of work by noted Los Angles-area architects
and designers, including Black practitioners such as Paul and John Williams, John Smith,
Robert Kennard, and Tommy Greene. Three negatives depict Paul Williams's Golden State
Mutual Life Insurance building. A few portraits are also included here, notably one of
decorator John Smith seated in John Lautner's Chemosphere House. The photographs
Drinkwater took for Kelsey Screens represent some of his first architectural work for
hire.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by personal or firm name.
Candela, Félix,
1957
Scope and Content Note
Candela in front of his Iglesia de la Medalla Miligrosa (Our Lady of the Miraculous
Medal Church), Mexico City. Drinkwater met the Spanish-Mexican architect on a trip to
Mexico City during the time that Candela was working on his Pabellón de Rayos Cósmicos
(Pavilion of Cosmic Rays) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) with
Jorge González Reyna.
box 1, folder 1
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Three 120 mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 1
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Three gelatin silver contact prints corresponding to the negatives.
box 1, folder 2
Greene, Tommy,
1959
Scope and Content Note
Ten 4x5 inch color negatives, 16 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives and four 2 1/4
inch color negatives of Greene standing next to one of his lamps and views of outdoor
fountains.
box 1, folder 3
Grimes, Clyde H.,
probably 1961
Scope and Content Note
Two 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives depicting exterior views of a home, possibly in
the Hollywood Hills.
Kamnitzer, Peter [?],
1960-2010
box 1, folder 4
Negatives,
1960s
Scope and Content Note
Nine 4x5 inch color negatives and 20 gelatin silver 4x5 inch negatives depicting
interiors.
box 3, folder 2
Clifton's Cafeteria,
2010 September 21
Scope and Content Note
Newspaper clipping regarding the sale of Clifton's Brookdale cafeteria to Andrew
Meieran.
Kelsey Screens,
1950-1958
box 1, folder 5
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Thirty-eight 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives of interior decorative screens and
dividers and one restaurant interior with screens.
box 3, folder 3
Prints
Scope and Content Note
One 8x10 inch gelatin silver print of a restaurant interior with screens.
box 1, folder 6
Kennard, Robert A.,
probably 1959
Scope and Content Note
One 4x5 inch gelatin silver negative of a view through a sliding glass door to a
deck.
box 3, folder 4
Leonard Schultz Associates,
1950?
Scope and Content Note
One 8x10 inch gelatin silver print of the Park La Brea Towers. Consulting architects
were Stanton & Kaufmann.
McKendrick,
undated
Scope and Content Note
McKendrick painted interiors of homes; these images feature a home in Bel Air
associated with Virgin Records.
box 1, folder 7
Negatives and transparencies
Scope and Content Note
One strip (4 frames) 35 mm color negatives; two 4x5 inch color transparencies with
printing notes; and eight 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives.
box 1, folder 7
Color
Scope and Content Note
Three 8x10 inch and two 4 1/2 x 6 inch chromogenic color prints.
box 3, folder 5
Black-and-white
Scope and Content Note
Two 4 1/2 x 6 inch gelatin silver prints.
box 1, folder 8
Pereira & Luckman,
probably 1963
Scope and Content Note
Six 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives of the LAX theme building designed by a team of
architects and engineers headed by William Pereira and Charles Luckman that also
included Paul Williams and Welton Becket.
Smith, John,
1961-1966
Scope and Content Note
John Smith was the first Black person to be admitted into the National Society of
Interior Designers (NSID; now the American Society of Interior Designers: ASID).
box 1, folder 9
Negatives,
1961-1966
Scope and Content Note
Twenty-nine 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives including a portrait (headshot) of
Smith and shots of Smith's booth at a home show, most likely one of the
California Design exhibitions held at the Pasadena Museum
of Art, featuring Smith's tapestries and furniture designed by Noah Purifoy.
box 3, folder 6
Prints,
1961
Scope and Content Note
One mounted 8x10 inch gelatin silver print of a seating area with a Smith tapestry
hanging on a wall.
box 1, folder 10
Williams, John,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Six 4x5 gelatin silver negatives of exterior views of a John Williams apartment
complex [?]
box 1, folder 11
Williams, Paul R.,
probably 1950
Scope and Content Note
Three 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance
headquarters, the first African American-owned insurance firm in Los Angeles.
Series II.
Artists,
1960-2004, undated
Physical Description:
3 Linear
Feet
Scope and Content Note
The series represents a cross section of Drinkwater's documentation of Southern
California artists, filmmakers, gallerists, and actors. Included are views of artists'
studios; photographs of artists and actors at work; and portraits. Black members of the
artistic community represented here include Don Amis, Bill Attaway, Camille Billops,
Roland Charles, Thelma Oliver, and Noah Purifoy. Many of the artists, including Charlie
Nothing, Bill Attaway, and Dewain Valentine, were part of the local Venice Beach art
scene, while others such as Gordon Wagner, Don Amis, Roland Charles, and Noah Purifoy
worked in the greater Los Angeles area. The artists represented range from
up-and-coming, to established, to perennially counterculture artists. Also included here
are few of Drinkwater's own projects as well as portraits of Drinkwater made by unknown
photographers.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by personal name.
Amis, Don,
1982
Scope and Content Note
Shots taken during the filming of Amis's
Festival of
Mask
, a 1982 film documenting the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum's
annual festival.
box 1, folder 12
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Eighteen three-frame strips of 35 mm gelatin silver negatives (54 images).
box 5
Contact sheets
Scope and Content Note
One 11x13 inch nine-frame gelatin silver contact sheet of the production team
working in the editing room and 34 14 1/2 x17 enlarged nine-frame gelatin silver
contact sheets from the film.
box 1
Attaway, William (Bill),
1995-approximately 1999,
undated
Negatives,
1995 December
Scope and Content Note
Six six-frame 35 mm negative strips (36 frames). Original sheet labeled: Attaway
- Yvette - loading kiln. Dec. 95.
Columns in studio,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Color photocopy.
box 1, folder 13
Dreams Come True,
approximately 1999
Scope and Content Note
Seven 4x6 inch chromogenic color prints showing the finished sculpture in situ on
Ocean Front Walk, Venice. Attaway began work on the sculpture, which formed part of
the area's redevelopment project, in 1995.
box 1, folder 14
Billops, Camille,
1978?
Scope and Content Note
Thirty-three 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives (three pairs of negatives are stuck
together) and five four-frame strips of 2 1/4 inch gelatin silver negatives of
Billop's sculptures and prints.
box 1
Boggs, Robert,
1984?
Scope and Content Note
Images of his sculptures at Picasso Restaurant and Redondo Beach.
box 1, folder 15
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
One hundred ninety-seven 35mm gelatin silver negatives (mostly three-frame
strips).
box 3, folder 7
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Ten 8x10 inch and one 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch gelatin silver prints.
box 1, folder 16
Charles, Roland,
between 1984 and 1998
Scope and Content Note
One 8x10 inch color inkjet print and a photocopied legend listing the 25 black
photographers, including Drinkwater, depicted outside Charles's Black Gallery in the
Crenshaw district.
Drinkwater, Harry,
1970-2004
Scope and Content Note
Includes art pieces by Drinkwater and photographic portraits of Drinkwater.
box 4
Composite Piece,
1970
Scope and Content Note
Nine-image photo montage of mounted gelatin silver prints.
box 4
Cash Contents,
1973-1974
Scope and Content Note
One printed sheet (two-sided) and one printed poster for Drinkwater's performance
piece at the beach in which he sold bottles of shredded cash.
box 4
Post Industrial Seminar and Cultural and Educational Seminar
(PISCES),
1970
Scope and Content Note
Thirty-five photographers were each given four rolls of film to shoot for one day
in Los Angeles.
The Promise of PISCES and
Carnival
Scope and Content Note
One 11x14 inch gelatin silver print.
No War Toys
Scope and Content Note
One 11x14 inch and one 5x5 inch gelatin silver print.
box 1, folder 17
Portraits,
2004
Scope and Content Note
Two 8 1/2 x 11 inch color inkjet prints of Drinkwater in his studio and Drinkwater
standing against a wall.
Galloway, Kit and Sherrie Rabinowitz,
Electronic
Cafe
,
1984
Scope and Content Note
Electronic Cafe was an official project of the 1984
Los Angeles Olympics Art Festival that remained active through the 1990s at the 18th
Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica.
box 1, folder 18
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Approximately 130 frames of 35mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 8
Prints and project materials
Scope and Content Note
Includes: one 8x10 inch print; one brochure; a one-page resume; two photocopies; a
two-page list of project credits (with two copies of the first page); and a 12-page
project description.
Moule, Marian,
1967
Scope and Content Note
Images of Moule throwing pots in the studio.
box 2, folder 1
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Thirty-six 2 1/4 inch gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 9
Contact sheets
Scope and Content Note
Three twelve-frame contact sheets (2 1/4 inch).
Muños Hernández, Juan Carlos,
2004
Scope and Content Note
Images of sculptures by the Mexican-American Dark Progressivism artist.
box 2, folder 2
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Twenty-five 35 mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 10
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Four 8x10 inch gelatin silver prints.
box 3, folder 11
Neufeldt, Max,
1965?
Scope and Content Note
One sheet of 2 1/4 inch gelatin silver contact prints (12 frames) and one 8x10 inch
gelatin silver print depicting Neufeldt's art work in his studio.
Nothing, Charlie [Charles Martin Simon],
1963-1984, undated
Scope and Content Note
Charlie Nothing and his work at the Front Porch Studio on Abbot Kinney Boulevard,
Venice. Nothing, a musician, artist and writer, invented and played the dingulator, a
stringed instrument made from old steel car parts, similar in appearance to a
steel-bodied National-style guitar with up to as many as 21 strings.
box 2, folder 3
Negatives,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Five 35 mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 12
Black-and-white,
1963
Scope and Content Note
Two 8x10 inch gelatin silver prints; one signed and dated by Drinkwater: Print
#6/ The indestructible dingulator / Harry Drinkwater '63 ©.
box 2, folder 3
Color,
1984
Scope and Content Note
One color photocopy of Charlie Nothing on a roof with a 1984 wire sculpture.
box 4
Oliver, Thelma (Krishna Kaur),
1960
Scope and Content Note
One 11x14 inch gelatin silver print of the actor performing. Signed on verso: Harry
Drinkwater '60.
box 2, folder 4
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Ten 35 mm gelatin silver negatives of views of Joshua Tree.
box 3, folder 13
Black-and-white
Scope and Content Note
One 5x7 inch gelatin silver portrait of Purifoy.
box 2, folder 4
Color
Scope and Content Note
Twenty-seven 4 1/2 x 6 inch chromogenic color prints of Purifoy's work and
compound in Joshua Tree. Also included is a print envelope with printing
instructions and Purifoy's address written on it.
box 2, folder 5
Saturensky, Ruth,
1968
Scope and Content Note
Eleven strips of 35 mm gelatin silver negatives (approximately 63 frames) depicting
her work and her September 1968 workshop. Twelve 2 1/4 inch gelatin silver negatives
of Saturensky dancing nude. Also included is one 4x5 inch gelatin silver negative of a
section of brick wall.
Valentine, Dewain,
1970s
Scope and Content Note
Valentine and his work in his Pasadena and Venice studios and his 1971 exhibition at
the Pasadena Museum of Art.
box 2, folder 6
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Includes approximately 100 35 mm gelatin silver negatives and 26 2 1/4 inch
negatives. Included are images of his work and of his parents in Venice.
box 2, folder 6
Transparencies
Scope and Content Note
One 4x5 color transparency.
box 3, folder 14
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Included are one 8x10 gelatin silver print of Valentine leaning in a doorway, two
twelve-frame gelatin silver contact sheets, and three 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inch mounted
gelatin silver prints, one signed on the verso by Drinkwater, of Valentine's
work.
Wagner, Gordon,
1966
Scope and Content Note
Images of Wagner and his junk art creations.
box 2, folder 7
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Three 4x5 inch gelatin silver negatives and four six-frame strips of 35 mm gelatin
silver negatives.
box 3, folder 15
Black-and-white
Scope and Content Note
Three 5x7 inch gelatin silver prints and one black-and-white photocopy.
box 2, folder 7
Color
Scope and Content Note
One color photocopy of a sculpture.
Series III.
Venice, Santa Monica and other coastal locations,
1963-2001, undated
Physical Description:
5 Linear
Feet
Scope and Content Note
The photographs in this series are primarily related to Venice, Santa Monica, and other
southern California coastal locations, with an emphais on Venice Beach and environs,
where Drinkwater lived and worked for over six decades. A black-and-white joined
panorama from the late 1970s or early 1980s records Ocean Front Walk, taken as the area
was returning to its spot as a tourist destination after a long decline following the
closure of Venice's amusement piers and dance halls that began in the late 1940s and
continued into the 1960s. Drinkwater's photographs capture the vibrant life of the area
from the late 1970s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Subjects range from
views of legendary cultural venues such as the Comeback Inn, Venice's jazz showcase, and
Mark Kornfeld's Sponto Gallery, to images of the Venice boardwalk street performers, the
Venice Graffiti Pit, and the annual Hare Krishna parade.
Also found in this series are photographs of Santa Monica and other beach communities
taken from the 1960s to the 1980s, and views of Los Angeles freeway construction in
1964. Images of Santa Monica include a 1963 vista of the coast looking north from just
below the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Chautauqua Boulevard and a series of
views of the Pacific Ocean Pier taken the day after it burned in May 1970.
Arrangement
Arranged by geographical location.
Ocean Front Walk, Venice Beach,
after 1977
Scope and Content Note
Views of Ocean Front Walk, Venice, taken from the beach. After the bike path was
constructed next to Ocean Front Walk in 1972 the area was revitalized as a vibrant
outdoor scene. The Cheapskates opened on the boardwalk in 1977 and shortly
thereafter Venice became known as the roller skating capital of the world.
box 2, folder 8
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Ten 120 mm gelatin silver negatives.
Contact sheets
Scope and Content Note
Three ten-frame contact sheets.
box 3, folder 16
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Twelve 4x5 inch and smaller gelatin silver prints.
flatfile 1**
Panorama
Scope and Content Note
One panorama comprised of ten 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch joined gelatin silver
prints.
box 2, folder 9
Pacific and Ocean Park,
undated
Scope and Content Note
One 2 1/4 inch (120 mm) gelatin silver negative of a building under demolition.
box 2, folder 10
Washington Blvd. and Stayer [?] Dr.,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Three six-frame strips of 35mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 17
John Stein home, Sunset Avenue, Venice Beach,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Two 8x10 inch gelatin silver prints of the home's interior.
Street performers,
late 1970s-1980s
box 2, folder 11
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Three strips of six-frame and two strips of four-frame 35 mm gelatin silver
negatives of a man performing on a skateboard and a unicycle, a zoot suiter
dancing and crowds watching the acts.
box 3, folder 18
Contact sheets
Scope and Content Note
Four contact sheets (three nine-frame; one six-frame) of a "Houdini" locks
act.
box 3, folder 18
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Four 8x10 inch gelatin silver prints of gymnasts forming a human pyramid, a zoot
suiter and a boxer [at Gold's Gym?]; one 5x7 inch gelatin silver print of a
Haitian painter.
box 2, folder 12
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Ninety-one frames of 35 mm gelatin silver negatives (mostly three-strip).
box 3, folder 19
Prints
Scope and Content Note
Two 8x10 inch gelatin silver prints of Ernesto and his band and Ernesto on a
wooden walkway.
box 3, folder 20
Comeback Inn,
between 1974 and 1976
Scope and Content Note
One 8x10 inch gelatin silver print of a band playing on the patio.
box 2, folder 13
Venice Beach Graffiti Pit,
1994, undated
Scope and Content Note
Three 3 1/2 x 5 inch chromogenic color prints of McCall [?] Day at the Graffiti Pit
and four 4 1/2 x 6 inch chromogenic color prints of the Graffiti Pit.
box 2, folder 14
Hare Krishna parade,
2001
Scope and Content Note
Four 4 1/2 x 6 inch chromogenic color prints.
box 2, folder 15
Sponto Gallery,
1980s, undated
Scope and Content Note
Mark "Sponto" Kornfeld's Sponto Gallery, at 7 Dudley Avenue, occupied the space
that had previously been the Venice West Cafe, the area's Beat Generation gathering
place. Includes two 4 1/2 x 6 inch chromogenic color prints of Kornfeld in front of
the gallery and of people standing in line in outside the building, with the Venice
West Cafe signs still in evidence and showing the mosaic mural, and two 8 1/2x11
inch color inkjet prints of Mark Kornfeld.
Santa Monica and other locations,
1963-1980, undated
Scope and Content Note
Mostly coastal locations.
box 4
Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica,
1963
Scope and Content Note
One 11x13 inch gelatin silver print of the coast looking north from just below the
intersection of PCH and Chautauqua Boulevard.
box 3, folder 21
Pacific Ocean Park Pier, Santa Monica,
1970 May 28
Scope and Content Note
Seven 3 1/2 x 5 inch gelatin silver prints of the pier the day after it burned in
1970. It was finally demolished between 1974 and 1975.
box 2, folder 16
Bronze Lane, Pacific Palisades,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Three six-frame strips of 35 mm gelatin silver negatives depicting a home and its
grounds.
box 2, folder 17
Manhattan Beach power plant,
1980?
Scope and Content Note
Three six-frame strips of 35 mm gelatin silver negatives of the interior of the
power plant.
Los Angeles freeway construction,
1964 January 24
Scope and Content Note
Images of a freeway overpass under construction.
box 2, folder 18
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Twelve 120 mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 3, folder 22
Prints
Scope and Content Note
One contact sheet (12 frames) corresponding to the negatives.
box 2, folder 19
Riverside and the Mission Inn,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Four 120mm gelatin silver negatives.
box 2, folder 20
Model Cities protest,
1973 or 1974
Scope and Content Note
Eleven six-frame strips 35 mm gelatin silver negatives (six-frames/strip except for
one strip of five frames) and eight strips of 2 1/4 inch negs (four frames/strip) of
protests related to Lyndon Johnson's Model Cities program.
