Ezra Stoller Collection

Special Collections Department
Robert E. Kennedy Library
1 Grand Avenue
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Phone: (805) 756-2305
Fax: (805) 756-5770
Email: archives@calpoly.edu
URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
© 2008
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.

Ezra Stoller Collection

Special Collections Department



Robert E. Kennedy Library

1 Grand Avenue

California Polytechnic State University

San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

Contact Information

  • Special Collections Department
  • Robert E. Kennedy Library
  • 1 Grand Avenue
  • California Polytechnic State University
  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
  • Phone: 805/756—2305
  • Fax: 805/756—5770
  • Email: archives@calpoly.edu
  • URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
Processed by:
Nancy E. Loe and Ken Kenyon
Date Completed:
2008
Encoded by:
Byte Managers, 2008; Marisa Ramirez, 2008, 2009
© 2008 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Ezra Stoller Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1947,
Date (inclusive): 1987
Date (bulk): (bulk 1947)
Collection number: MS 148
Creator: Stoller, Ezra (1915-2004)
Extent: 1 box.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407
Abstract: Collection contains 9 mounted vintage images by famed architectural photographer Ezra Stoller of the Clark residence in Lake Placid, New York, taken in 1947.

Provenance

Purchased from a dealer.

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection.
Photocopying of material is permitted at staff discretion and provided on a fee basis. Photocopies are not to be used for any purpose other than for private study, scholarship, or research. Special Collections staff reserves the right to limit photocopying and deny access or reproduction in cases when, in the opinion of staff, the original materials would be harmed.
Intellectual property rights to the images are retained by the photographer's estate.

Preferred Citation

Ezra Stoller Collection, Special Collections, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Biography

Architectural photographer Ezra Stoller was born in Chicago on May 16, 1915. He graduated in 1938 from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at New York University, where his interest in photography began. During World War II, he taught photography at the Army Signal Corps Photo Center in New York City.
After the war, Stoller began his career in earnest, eventually earning acknowledgement as the leading architectural photographer of the twentieth century. "So influential was Mr. Stoller's work that many architects didn't feel a building was complete until it had been 'Stollerized.' He came to have as much influence on architectural taste as did the architects whose buildings he recorded," wrote Robert Campbell in The Boston Globe.
Stoller's AIA obituary noted:
It was Stoller's architect's eye and discipline that moved him to capture on film the structure and spirit, body and soul of the icons of Modern architecture, from the Louis Kahn's Salk Institute in La Jolla to Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal in New York and close to all of the great postwar buildings in between. Often, the image we carry in our mind's eye of any particular great building was first seen through a lens by Ezra Stoller. He managed, in a career that spanned more than five decades, to capture not only the architecture, but also the times and culture embodied in each piece of work. His photos continue to be featured in countless books and magazine articles, and in art exhibitions worldwide.
Stoller received the AIA Gold Medal for Photography in 1961. Later that decade, Stoller founded Esto Photographics, the agency that has become one of the architecture profession's best-known and most respected houses of photography. His daughter, Erica Stoller, now serves as director of the firm in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
In 1990, Abrams published Modern Architecture: Photographs by Ezra Stoller, featuring 400 of his most important images.
Stoller died October 29, 2004, at his home in Williamstown, Mass., following complications of a stroke. In addition to his daughter, Stoller is survived by his wife, Helen and his brother, Claude Stoller, FAIA.
Sources
Campbell, Robert, "Ezra Stoller, 89; His Photos Influenced Modern Designs," November 3, 2004. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2004/11/03/ezra_stoller_89_his_photos_influenced_modern_designs/
"Ezra Stoller, Architect-Photographer, 1915—2004" AIA, 2004. http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek04/tw1112/1112obit_stoller.htm

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains nine mounted vintage images (13 prints) by famed architectural photographer Ezra Stoller of the Clark residence in Lake Placid, New York, taken in 1947.
The house was built for the Clark family and is believed to have been designed by Douglas Haskell (1899-1979), an architect by training, who served as a journalist with the Architectural Record and the Architectural Forum.
In order to simplify access to the collection for researchers, the prints were reorganized and refoldered to more accurately reflect their contents and are arranged by interiors and exteriors.
The copyright to these images is retained by the photographer's estate.
The Stoller Collection is divided into two series housed in one box:
1. Photographs, 1947
2. Secondary Source, 1987

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States.
Stoller, Ezra
Architecture -- Placid, Lake (N.Y.)

Genre and Forms of Materials

Mounted photographic prints


 

1. Photographs

Scope and Content Note

Contains one subseries: Vintage Prints.
 

A. Vintage Prints, 1947

Scope and Content Note

Contains nine mounted vintage prints (13 prints) by architectural photographer Ezra Stoller of the Clark residence in Lake Placid, New York, arranged by location, 1947. 9 folders.
Box 1, Folder 1

Two-story residence, exterior, side view

Box 1, Folder 2

Two-story residence, exterior, front view

Box 1, Folder 3

Two-story residence, exterior, rear view

Box 1, Folder 4

Two-story residence, interior, living room

Box 1, Folder 5

Two-story residence, interior, living room with fireplace

Box 1, Folder 6

Two-story residence, interior, bedroom

Box 1, Folder 7

Two-story residence, interior, bedroom vanity alcove

Box 1, Folder 8

Two-story residence, interior, bathroom

Box 1, Folder 9

Two-story residence, interior, kitchen and dining area

 

2. Secondary Source

Scope and Content Note

Contains one subseries: Article.
 

A. Article

Scope and Content Note

Contains November 1987 issue of ArtNews. 1 folder.
Box 1, Folder 10

"Ezra Stoller: The Architectural Landscape," Artnews, November 1987: 160-166.