Shirrel Rhoades Collection, ca. 1850-2000

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Summary

Title:
Shirrel Rhoades Collection
Dates:
ca. 1850-2000
Creators:
Rhoades, Shirrel, 1942-
Abstract:
The collection consists of a broad selection of photographs dating from the mid 1800s to the early 2000s. The collection was collected by Rhoades, a photography collector.
Extent:
126 photographs (119 photographs in 5 boxes and 7 framed photographs) ranging in size from 2” x 2” to 16” x 20”
Language:
Preferred citation:

Shirrel Rhoades Collection, PH 001, Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department

Background

Scope and content:

The Shirrell Rhoades Collection consists of 126 photographs donated to Monterey Peninsula College in 2008. The collection is broad in scope and includes portraits, nudes, landscapes, fashion photography, and fine art photography by some of the best known American and international photographers of the 19th and 20th centuries. More than one hundred photographers are represented, such as Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Walker Evans, Yousuf Karsh, Dorothea Lange, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Irving Penn, May Ray, Edward Steichen, and Arthur Stieglitz. There is a significant number of fashion photographs (many for Vogue magazine) by Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Herb Ritts, and Helmut Newton featuring supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, Lauren Hutton, Gia, and Linda Evangelista. Also included are portraits of Barbra Streisand, Janis Joplin, Carl Sandburg, Audrey Hepburn, Patti Smith, Dolly Parton, Angelina Jolie, and Marilyn Monroe. Many different photographic techniques are represented in the collection, such as black and white silver gelatin, color digital, and heliogravure. Prints range in size from 2” x 2” to 16” x 20”. In short, this wide-ranging and unique collection provides a fascinating sampling of important photography, photographers, and photographic techniques of the 19th and 20th centuries. Several of these photographs were included in the exhibit, The Eclectic Eye: Selected Photographs from the Shirrel Rhoades Collection, which was on display in the Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery from Nov. 18 - Dec. 19, 2008.

Biographical / historical:

Shirrel Rhoades (b. 1942) is an American executive, writer, publisher, professor, filmmaker and photographer. Born in North Carolina, Rhoades attended Wake Forest University and Stetson University, where he received his BA in Fine Arts in 1964. He started his career with various newspapers as an editor, feature writer, and critic. He later worked for several book and magazine publishing firms. In 1996, Rhoades became Executive Vice President of Marvel Entertainment, where he was involved in various movie projects based on Marvel superheroes. Rhoades has written hundreds of magazine articles and has written, edited, and published a number of books. He has consulted for numerous companies, taught and lectured at several universities, assisted at three museums, and received a number of awards in the publishing field. Rhoades is also a photographer and avid photography collector. Over the years he has donated much of his collection to various colleges, universities and museums.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to Monterey Peninsula College by Shirrel Rhoades in 2008. Although Rhoades himself has no connection with MPC, his wife, Diane Brady, went to college with the wife of Dr. John Anderson, who was chair of the Creative Arts Division at MPC at the time of the donation. The photographs were stored in the MPC Photography Department and then transferred to the MPC Library, Archives and Special Collections Department, in June 2016.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department staff.
Date Prepared:
ca. 1850-2000
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research by advance appointment.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department. Consent is given on behalf of the Archives and Special Collections Department as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Copyright is held by the individual photographers, their heirs, or their estates. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir(s) for permission to publish.

Preferred citation:

Shirrel Rhoades Collection, PH 001, Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department

Location of this collection:
980 Fremont Street
Monterey, CA 93940, US
Contact:
(831) 646-4095
Website