Guide to the Ansel Adams photographs

Patrick Haywood and Debra Roussopoulos
University of California, Santa Cruz
2015
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu

Note

Finding aid originally created by Debra Roussopoulos with OAC EAD template in 2015. Imported into ASpace and edited by Kate Dundon in 2020.


Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Ansel Adams photographs
Creator: Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984
Identifier/Call Number: MS.002
Physical Description: 12 Linear Feet 21 boxes
Date (inclusive): circa 1962-1975
Abstract: 485 black and white photographs by Ansel Adams documenting the land, building sites, and early activities of the University of California Santa Cruz campus.
Physical Location: Stored at Special Collections and Archives.
Language of Material: English

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright for the majority of items in this collection is owned by the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust (ansel@adamstrust.com). Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Copyright for the Fiat Lux photographs (box 21) is owned by Regents of the University of California, and is managed by the California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside. Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.

Preferred Citation

Ansel Adams photographs. MS2. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Acquisition Information

The original provenance and physical arrangement of this collection is undetermined. All or part of the initial set of photographs perished in the Central Services fire on the UCSC campus in 1972. Replacement prints were purchased with Chancellor's funds in 1975. When and how the rough proofs were acquired is not known.

Alternative Form of Material Available

Selected protographs of the UCSC campus are available online through UCSC Library Digital Collections.

Biography

Ansel Adams (February 20, 1902 - Aprril 22, 1984), was an American photographer and environmentalist known for his landscape photography of the American West.

Administrative History

This photographic project was created in part, to document the building of the University of California Santa Cruz campus, known as the "Campus Site Project", and in part for the Fiat Lux commission.
The vast majority of the prints in this collection contain working photographs, which Ansel Adams termed "rough proofs". The rough proofs were used for layout and production purposes, and were not meant to be exhibited or used for publication, as they did not represent the fine print quality that Adams is known for. In addition, almost all of the images are untitled, and many of the prints are duplicated in several sizes.
Some of the prints are matted on board, and were hung in various academic offices, some were used for architects' reference and planning. Many of these prints include irregularities that occur from handling, and some include printer's marks on the mattes. Almost all the matted prints have been signed by Adams.
Adams enjoyed documenting the early pre-campus: the historic Henry Cowell ranch buildings, meadows and redwood glades, oak trees, and the initial campus buildings and construction scenes. Adams reveals his enthusiasm for this natural setting in his charter address written in 1963, and delivered March 30, 1967. For the text of this address see the "Additional Collection Guides" section in this finding aid.
The collection includes the earliest scenes of campus life, notably Dean McHenry standing amongst the trees with the new McHenry Library behind him, and giving a speech to faculty at their first luncheon. The students are documented on registration day of the very first academic year -- automobiles pull up to a simple folding table and campus volunteers assist newcomers. Later images show a group of students painting plein-air and walking past the Cowell College fountain.
Fiat Lux ProjectIn 1963, Ansel Adams along with Nancy Newhall were given an assignment by UC President Clark Kerr to produce images on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the University of California. This work culminated in the centennial book, Fiat Lux: The University of California with bookmaker Adrian Wilson.
"For three years, Adams and Newhall toured the state, visiting nine campuses and dozens of the UC's scientific field stations, reserves, observatories, and agricultural outposts. Fiat Lux was intended not as a document of the university as it was, but rather a portrait of the university as it would be. UC President Clark Kerr asked the artists to project through words and photographs, as far as possible, "the next hundred years"- impossible, of course, but a provocative invitation that the artists embraced. The Fiat Lux project was a massive endeavor, producing 605 fine prints and over 6,700 negatives, far more than the 1,000 images stipulated in Adams's contract. After Adams's lifetime devotion to Yosemite, Fiat Lux was probably the biggest single project of his life". Excerpt, The Bancroft Library: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/fiat-lux/

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection includes 31 polariod prints, 9 postcard/offset reproductions, 387 silver gelatin proof prints, and 40 matted prints. The majority of the prints are stamped "rough proof" on the verso and are duplicated in various sizes. The proof prints range in size from 3 x 4" polaroid prints, up to 16 x 20" silver gelatin prints. Other prints are dry mounted on archival and non-archival matte board, ranging in total size from approximately 16 x 20" to 24 x 30". Nearly two thirds of the collection consists of duplicate prints.

Arrangement

Matted and unmatted photographs are separated, and arranged by image subject and size.

Processing Information

Processing by Patrick Haywood and Debra Roussopoulos. Processing completed in 2015. EAD encoding by Debra Roussopoulos in 2015.

Related Material

Fiat Lux images available from the California Museum of Photography, University of California Riverside.

Additional Collection Guides

See the following links for Adams' charter address and detailed inventories of the photographic prints.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Photography

Box 1-15

Series 1: Proof Prints circa 1962-1968

Scope and Contents

This series contains polaroid images and Adams' "rough" proof duplicates. Photographs are unmatted and stamped on the verso.

Additional Collection Guide

Detailed inventory here: ProofPrints.pdf 
Box 16-21

Series 2: Matted and Signed Prints circa 1962-1975

Scope and Contents

This series contains matted prints signed by Ansel Adams, including one print of Yosemite National Park (box 20).

Additional Collection Guide

Detailed inventory here: MattedSignedPrints.pdf