Finding Aid for the Christopher Felver Photographs, 1980-2011

Processed by Shannon O'Neill, 28 January 2008, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT); additions by Octavio Olvera, January 2013; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2009
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: Christopher Felver Photographs
Date (inclusive): 1980-2011
Collection number: 1759
Creator: Felver, Christopher, 1946-
Extent: 1 box [25 silver gelatin photographic prints] (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: This collection is comprised of eighteen portraits of Beat Generation luminaries and seven poets, writers, and artists photographed by Christopher Felver between the years 1980 and 2001. The portraits are presented as silver gelatin prints and include such subjects as: Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Susan Sontag, Amiri Baraka, and Edward Kienholz .
Language: Finding aid is written in English.
Language of the Material: Materials are in English.
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Purchase and gift of Christopher Felver, 2007.

Processing Note

Processed by Shannon O'Neill, 28 January 2008, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT). Additions processed by Octavio Olvera, January 2013.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Christopher Felver Photographs (Collection 1759). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 6142901 

Biography/History

Christopher Felver is an American-born photographer and filmmaker living in Sausalito, California. Felver was raised in Akron, Ohio. He majored in history at the University of Miami and studied film at the London College of Photography. He is best known for his portraiture photography, particularly, his photographs of Beat Generation personalities Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Burroughs and Gregory Corso. Felver has shown solo photographic exhibitions at the Torino Fotografia Biennale Internazionale in Torino, Italy in 1989; the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France in 1994; Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, California in 2002; and the Robert Berman Gallery in Los Angeles, California in 2007. In addition to being a prolific photographer, Felver has produced several acclaimed films including West Coast: Beat and Beyond (1984); John Cage Talks about Cows (1987); The Coney Island of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1996); Donald Judd's Marfa Texas (1998); and Cecil Taylor: All the Notes (2006). His films have been screened at the 53rd Venice International Film Festival, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, The New York Public Library and the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Felver's books include The Late Great Allen Ginsberg; Seven Days in Nicaragua Libre; The Poet Exposed; Ferlinghetti Portrait; Angels, Anarchists and Gods; The Importance of Being; and Beat.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of eighteen portraitures of Beat Generation personalities taken by the photographer Christopher Felver and seven portraits of artists, writers, and poets. Each of the twenty-five photographs is a silver gelatin print, varying in size. These portraits were taken between the years 1980 and 2011. While some of the portraits are posed, many of the images are candid shots. Oft times, the subjects are featured in locations infused with Beat mythology – for example, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, California. Subjects highlighted in this collection include: Charles and Linda Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Carolyn Cassady, Gregory Corso, Agneta Falk, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Hirschman, Ted Joans, Bob Kaufman, Jan Kerouac, Ken Kesey and Peter Orlovsky.

Organization and Arrangement

The prints are arranged chronologically by the date the photograph was captured. Within this chronological order, where there are multiple prints sharing a date, the prints are arranged alphabetically by last name of subject.

Indexing Terms

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

Subjects

Christopher Felver --Archives.
Portrait photographers --United States --Archival resources.
Beat generation --Portraits.

Related Material

Collection of Bookseller's Catalogs of Beat Literature (Collection 1648). Available at Library Special Collections, UCLA.
Kenneth Rexroth papers, 1853-1986 (Collection 175)  . Available at Library Special Collections, UCLA.

Box 1, Folder 1

William S Burroughs and Lawrence Ferlinghetti in City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco Item Number: 1

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 8 × 10 in

Scope and Content Note

William S Burroughs and Lawrence Ferlinghetti in City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Box 1, Folder 2

Ted Joans Item Number: 2

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in

Scope and Content Note

Ted Joans
Box 1, Folder 3

William S. Burroughs Item Number: 3

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 4

Allen Ginsberg Item Number: 4

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 5

Gregory Corso Item Number: 6

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in
Box 1, Folder 6

Lawrence Ferlinghetti in the window of City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco Item Number: 8

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 7

Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky Item Number: 5

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in

Scope and Content Note

Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky
Box 1, Folder 8

Bob Kaufman and Gregory Corso Item Number: 7

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 9

Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti Item Number: 9

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in
Box 1, Folder 10

Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and William S Burroughs Item Number: 10

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in
Box 1, Folder 11

Ken Kesey Item Number: 11

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 12

Linda and Charles Bukowski Item Number: 12

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in

Scope and Content Note

Linda and Charles Bukowski
Box 1, Folder 13

Carolyn Cassady Item Number: 13

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print. 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 14

Jan Kerouac at the site of her father, Jack Kerouac's, grave Item Number: 14

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 15

Allen Ginsberg in City Lights Bookore San Francisco Item Number: 15

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 16

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Item Number: 16

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in
Box 1, Folder 17

Agneta Falk and Jack Hirschman Item Number: 18

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 16 × 20 in

Scope and Content Note

Agneta Falk and Jack Hirschman
Box 1, Folder 18

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Item Number: 17

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin print 20 × 16 in
Box 1, Folder 19

Amiri Baraka

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin. 20 × 16.
Box 1, Folder 20

Lawrence Durrell

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin. 20 × 16.
Box 1, Folder 21

Edward and Nancy Kienholz

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin. 20 × 16.
Box 1, Folder 22

R.B. Kitaj and family (Sandra Fisher and Max Kitaj [son]), London 1990

Physical Description: 3 photographs. Silver gelatin. 20 × 16.
Box 1, Folder 23

Susan Sontag

Physical Description: 1 silver gelatin. 20 × 16.