Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Santisi, Donna and Santisi, Donna
- Abstract:
- Donna Santisi was a photographer and documentarian of the Los Angeles punk scene from 1976-1980. This collection primarily comprises Los Angeles music photography and ephemera created to document the Los Angeles music scene from 1973-2017, in particular the Los Angeles punk rock scene between 1976-1980.
- Extent:
- 46.4 linear feet (62 document boxes, 14 flat boxes, 2 oversized folders, 5 tubes), 6 audiovisual carriers (4 audiocassettes and 2 open reel audiotapes), 5 born-digital carriers (3 flash drives and 2 CDs), and 36.9 Gigabytes (19,939 files, 388 folders)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Donna Santisi photographs and ephemera (Collection 2408). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The bulk of this collection comprises negatives, contact sheets, prints, and slides of Donna Santisi's photographic work. The majority of the ephemera includes publications which published Santisi's photographs. In addition to these and other publications Santisi collected, the collection includes ephemera she saved such as ticket stubs to shows, backstage passes, flyers, correspondence, buttons, posters, invoices, scrapbooks, a Runaways scarf, and two audiocassettes.
The primary contents of this collection are photographs and punk rock ephemera created to document the Los Angeles punk scene between 1975 and 1980, but the collection contains Donna Santisi's photographic work through the 2010s. The bulk of the materials were created between 1975-1995.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Donna Santisi is an internationally published photographer who has been exploring the photographic side of the music scene since the early 1970s. Her work has endured the changing faces of music and her imagery offers privileged glimpses of some of the most influential artists in rock and roll history. In 1978 Donna published her sought after book, Ask The Angels, which features musicians that were pivotal to the L.A. music scene. (Bio adapted from Donna Santisi's website)
- Acquisition information:
- Partial purchase and gift from Donna Santisi, 2020. Additions from Santisi, 2024.
- Processing information:
-
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.
Digital materials were received on 1 hard drive. All digital file naming, organization and arrangement created by Donna Santisi was retained.
Processed by CFPRT scholar Laila Jaffer with assistance from Kelly Besser, Doug Johnson, and CFPRT assistant Kate Ahn, 2025. Nicole Alvarado and Consuela Metzger of UCLA Library Preservation and Conservation Department provided expert care for the Posters and Memorabilia series.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Photographic materials, 1971-2017
Series 2: Ephemera, 1965-2001
Subseries 2.1: Magazines and newspapers, 1967-2000
Subseries 2.2: Music and performance materials, 1965-1993
Subseries 2.3: Patti Smith memorabilia, 1972-2001
Subseries 2.4: Correspondence, 1972-1999
Subseries 2.5: Posters, 1967-1995
Subseries 2.6: Memorabilia, 1967-1980
- Physical / technical requirements:
-
CONTAINS DIGITAL/AUDIO MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed digital/audio materials. Digital/audio materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed digital materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Physical location:
- Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
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], Donna Santisi photographs and ephemera (Collection 2408). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988