Description
This collection primarily consists of undeveloped negatives by African American Los Angeles photographer Cliff Hall (1925-2020),
which appear to chiefly date from the 1950s to early 2000s. The images reflect photo shoots by Hall of society and cultural
events and often document the Los Angeles African American community.
Background
Cliff Hall (1925-2020) was a prominent African-American photographer, inventor, and designer in Los Angeles, California. Clifford
Augustus Hall was born in Los Angeles on August 11, 1925. He served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and later
studied at the Fred Archer School of Photography. Hall worked at the Los Angeles Sentinel in the 1950s and 1960s and cofounded Halmont Graphics with Lamont McLemore in 1958. As an independent photographer, Hall
became well-known photographing social events, weddings, and socialites, often in Beverly Hills and Bel Air as well as in
the Los Angeles Black community. Hall was also an inventor, notably creating a sports car prototype named the Corwin Getaway
in 1969. Hall died on January 5, 2020.