Guatemalan Civil War press photographs, 1980-1996

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Guatemalan Civil War press photographs
Dates:
1980-1996
Creators:
Bazzy, Derrill, 1954- and Finkle, Harvey
Abstract:
A collection of 30 black and white press photographs of Guatemalan people impacted by the Guatemalan Civil War and the Guatemalan genocide, dating from the 1980s and 1990s. The images show indigenous life and customs, the impact of people being displaced, and Guatemalan people in refugee camps in Mexico. The photographs were shot by two different American photographers: Derrill Bazzy and Harvey Finkle. Several of the images have captions. For example, one caption (written on verso) notes: "2nd grade teacher in one of the Guatemalan refugee schools in Mexico. The teacher himself only has a third grade education, yet has studied more than anyone else in camp. Mexico. 1986." Another caption reads: "'prisoners' in feed line at (Nebag) army base, captured in the mountains and held for 2 months of questioning and re-education. Derrill Bazzy."
Containers:
Box: 1
Extent:
0.21 Linear Feet 1 box
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], Guatemalan Civil War press photographs, Collection no. 6232, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 30 black and white press photographs of Guatemalan people impacted by the Guatemalan Civil War and the Guatemalan genocide, dating from the 1980s and 1990s. The images show indigenous life and customs, the impact of people being displaced, and Guatemalan people in refugee camps in Mexico. The photographs were shot by two different American photographers: Derrill Bazzy and Harvey Finkle. Several of the images have captions. For example, one caption (written on verso) notes: "2nd grade teacher in one of the Guatemalan refugee schools in Mexico. The teacher himself only has a third grade education, yet has studied more than anyone else in camp. Mexico. 1986." Another caption reads: "'prisoners' in feed line at (Nebag) army base, captured in the mountains and held for 2 months of questioning and re-education. Derrill Bazzy."

Biographical / historical:

In the 1980s, Derrill Bazzy was a photographer living in Guatemala, where he documented human rights violations against indigenous tribes. His work is included in the book: Rescatando Nuestra Memoria: Represión, Refugio y Recuperación de las Poblaciones Desarraigadas por la Violencia en Guatemala (2009 - F&G Editores). Commenting on his work, Bazzy said: "It was an education tool for the next generation to learn about what happened, that's why I took the photographs so people could have a record," he said in a newspaper interview. "I can't begin to say how terrible it was there... those photographs belong to them [the Guatemalan people] and having them as an archive is a wonderful opportunity." The Museum of Modern Art has holdings of Bazzy's work.

Additional photographs in the collection are the work of Harvey Finkle, a documentary still photographer from Philadelphia who has produced a substantial body of work concerned with social, political, and cultural issues. His work has been extensively exhibited and published, including four books entitled, Urban Nomads, Still Home: Jews of South Philadelphia, Reading, and Independent Living: The People Behind the Movement.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books Archives, June 15, 2021.
Processing information:

Many of the descriptive notes in this finding aid were adapted from descriptions by the immediate source of the material, Johnson Rare Books & Archives.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Bo Doub
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-08-05 09:15:02 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder no. or item name], Guatemalan Civil War press photographs, Collection no. 6232, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library, Room 209
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189, US
Contact:
(213) 740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Website