Finding Aid for the Freyda Miller Photographic Portfolios LSC.1738
Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Spatz and Genie Guerard; machine-readable finding aid created by Amy Shung-Gee Wong; and
edited by Amy Shung-Gee Wong and Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Finding aid last updated 2023 September 12.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Freyda Miller photographic portfolios
Creator:
Miller, Freyda
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1738
Physical Description:
3 linear feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 2000-2012
Abstract: The collection contains three portfolios. The first, entitled The Naked Tree (edition no. 4), is comprised of hand-tinted
photographs by Miller and was produced in 2000. The second, Here Comes the Bride and Other Nightmares, was produced in 2006
and is comprised of mostly color photography with 2 hand-tinted images. The third, entitled Freyda Miller Assemblage was produced
in 2012, is comprised of color prints and a DVD.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
COLLECTION CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL and DIGITAL MATERIALS: Digital and audiovisual materials are not currently available
for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email AskLSC@library.ucla.edu.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Freyda Miller Photographic Portfolios (Collection 1738). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Freyda Miller, 2006.
Processing Information
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interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography/History
Freyda (Margolis) Miller was born on May 9, 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1944 she moved with her parents and younger siblings
to Los Angeles, where she began pursuing the arts, particularly dance, at an early age. Miller majored in Advertising Art
during her first two years of college. She later returned to school to continue her art education and graduated cum laude
from the UCLA Department of Fine Arts in 1977, with an emphasis in fine art photography. By this time, she was married and
had two children. In 1978, Miller began exhibiting and working at Soho/Cameraworks, a photography gallery in the Los Angeles
area. She left the gallery to become a photographer's stylist and production coordinator, assisting a commercial photographer
with casting, wardrobe, set decorating, location scouting, and props. In the early 1980s she developed her own business, Prop
Connection West, which targeted photographers and commercial production companies on the East coast and in the Midwest. The
wealth of resources in the Hollywood area and the mild weather on the West coast gave her the opportunity to send much-needed
props and wardrobe to these clients and also to set up productions for them in California. During these years, she continued
creating and exhibiting her own fine art photography. By the late 1990s, Miller had established a studio and was working exclusively
on her own art. It was during this time that she began compiling Here Comes the Bride and Other Nightmares and The Naked Tree,
the two books that comprise this collection. The books feature her work from the late 1970s through the late 1990s, paired
with classical literature that resonates with the images. Statements on both of these works are included in the collection.
Her work is also in the permanent collections of the St. Louis Museum of Art; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam; the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum; the Peter Palmquist Archives; and the Women in Photography International Archives. At
present, she is represented by Corbis Corp., an international photography agency, where her work is included in their Fine
Arts Department; LACMA's Art Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles; Art Dimensions, Los Angeles; ArtPic, North Hollywood;
McLean Gallery, Malibu; and D & A Fine Arts, Studio City. Miller is currently working on a series of assemblages, which is
a natural outgrowth of her photographic imagery.
Scope and Content
All portfolios are comprised of photographs by Miller, mounted on hand-deckled watercolor paper and accompanied by quotations
from classical literature printed on vellum. The Naked Tree (edition no. 4), produced in 2000, is comprised of 113 leaves
of hand-tinted photographs, and expresses the relationship between the human form and the mysterious primal nature of trees.
Here Comes the Bride and Other Nightmares, produced in 2006, is comprised of 108 leaves of mostly color photography with 2
hand-tinted images, and represents Miller's reflections on the roles women play in society. Freyda Miller Assemblage produced
in 2012 is comprised of 8-1/2" x 11" color prints and a DVD included in a black linen portfolio box.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Portfolios (Groups of works).
Art photography.
Women photographers -- California -- Los Angeles.
Miller, Freyda
Series 1: Portfolios
2000-2012.
Physical Description: 2 boxes
Scope and Contents note
This series includes portfolios comprised of photographs by Miller.
box 1
The Naked Tree (edition no. 4)
2000.
Scope and Contents note
Portfolio is comprised of 113 leaves, all hand-tinted photographs, and expresses the relationship between the human form and
the mysterious primal nature of trees.
box 3
Freyda Miller Assemblage
2012
Scope and Contents
Box contains one portfolio comprised of 8-1/2" x 11" color prints and a DVD in addition to one envelope containing two Freyda
Miller Studio printed promotional pieces, and three CD-Rs entitled "Here Comes the Bride and Other Nightmares," "Fertile Dreams,"
and "The Naked Tree."
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
BOX CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL and DIGITAL MATERIALS: Digital and audiovisual materials are not currently available
for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email AskLSC@library.ucla.edu.
box 2
Here Comes the Bride and Other Nightmares
2006.
Scope and Contents note
Portfolio is comprised of 108 leaves, mostly color photography with 2 hand-tinted images, and represents Miller's reflections
on the roles women play in society.