Collection Guide
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Baer (Morley) Photographs
MS.006
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Morley Baer Photographs
creator:
Baer, Morley
source:
Morley Baer Photographic Trust
Identifier/Call Number: MS.006
Physical Description:
168 Linear Feet
295 boxes; 4 framed items
Date (inclusive): 1945-1996
Collection is open for research. Advance notice is required to access negatives and proof prints (boxes 142-291) so that they
can be retrieved from storage. Please contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access.
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Copyright resides with the Morley Baer Photography
Trust (www.morleybaer.com). UCSC Special Collections and Archives requires written permission from the copyright holder to
allow reproduction of this material, including photography in the reading room. Permission must be sent to speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
in advance. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.
Morley Baer Photographs. MS 6. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Morley Baer was an internationally known photographer and teacher who documented iconic images of the California and the Central
Coast, Bay Area architecture, and the Southwest.
Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1916, Morley Baer graduated from the University of Michigan in 1939 with a master's degree in English.
He served in the Navy during World War II, photographing the Atlantic theater and under Edward Steichen, documenting the war
in the Pacific.
He left his career in advertising in favor of photography after accompanying a photographer friend on an assignment. He worked
as a photographer's assistant learning his craft from the ground up.
Morley Baer made his first pilgrimage to Carmel in 1939, in search of Edward Weston, whose photographs he had seen at a Chicago
exhibition.
He moved to California permanently in 1946. Mr. Baer applied for an apprenticeship with Weston, only to be turned down. Later,
the two became good friends in a circle of local photographers that also included the late Ansel Adams.
Working primarily with large-format cameras, Morley Baer was best known for his black-and-white landscape and architectural
photographs. He received the National Award for Photography from the American Institute of Architects in 1965 and in 1979
was the first photographer to receive the coveted Prix de Rome from the American Academy.
Mr. Baer's photographs were exhibited internationally for more than four decades.
He was also a teacher, serving during the late 1950s as chairman of the photographic department at the San Francisco Art Institute,
and held numerous workshops through private and public institutions such as the University of California.
Morley Baer died in 1995 at the age of 79.
Examiner News Services,
San Francisco Chronicle, November 13, 1995.
This collection contains the commercial work and fine art photography of Morley Baer, including vintage and estate photographs,
proof prints, negatives and transparencies, portfolios and framed prints. Also included are biographical materials, correspondence,
and business papers relating to educational workshops, fine art exhibits, publications, and lectures.
See the Morley Baer Job Number Index for a complete listing of his commercial projects with corresponding job numbers.
Job Number Index
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photography, Artistic
Morley Baer Photographic Trust