Guide to the Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs, 1971-1995
Processed by Special Collections staff.
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/
© 2002
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs, 1971-1995
Collection number: MSS PHOTO 203
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, California
Contact Information
- Department of Special Collections
- Green Library
- Stanford University Libraries
- Stanford, CA 94305-6004
- Phone: (650) 725-1022
- Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
- URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/
- Processed by:
- Special Collections staff
- Encoded by:
- Steven Mandeville-Gamble
© 2002 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs,
Date (inclusive): 1971-1995
Collection number: MSS PHOTO 203
Creator:
Gamboa, Harry, Jr.
Extent:
.25 linear ft.
(93 black & white prints, 7 original Polaroid instant prints)
Repository:
Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Abstract: The 93 B&W prints are unique in that they were hand-printed in 1995 by Willie Garcia along with Gamboa's supervision. Although
several of these images have been printed elsewhere, the quality and tonality of these prints will not be reproduced by other
photo lab techniques. Several of the negatives were lost. Seven of the 100 photographs are original Polaroid instant prints.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
None.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights
reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To
obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the
Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs. MSS PHOTO 203. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Acquisition Information
Purchased, 2000.
Biography
Harry Gamboa Jr. was born in 1951, the first of five children born to Harry T. Gamboa and
Carmen Gamboa, a working class Mexican American couple. He grew up in East Los Angeles
California, an urban area tormented by poverty, violence and racial conflict. Despite these
surroundings, the inadequacy of the East L.A. public schools and his parents' lack of education,
Gamboa was encouraged to value education and did fairly well in school. As a teenager he was
active in community organizations and politics. As a student at High School (graduated 1969)
Gamboa was active in student government and as an organizer of various student-initiated
reforms, most significantly the 1968 "East L.A. Blowouts" -a series of protests against the
inferior conditions of public schools in poor, non-white areas.
Gamboa's extra-curricular activities were not, however, limited to politics. Already a developing
artist, it was at Garfield High that Gamboa met Gronk (Glugio Nicondra), Patssi (then Patsy)
Valdez and Willie Herrón, three of his closest associates in his later career. After the
"Blowouts," for his final year of high school, Gamboa dropped out of the political scene in order
to dedicate himself to his education. Thanks to these efforts and with the help of the Equal
Opportunities Program (EOP) for disadvantaged minority students, Gamboa was able to attend
California State University at Los Angeles. From this point his career as an artist -both solo and
with Gronk, Valdez and Herrón in the art collective ASCO (Spanish for nausea)-took off.
Gamboa's work as a writer, photographer, film-maker, performance artist and multi-media
creator of "things" is diverse, but in all his efforts (including those as a member of ASCO) his
focus has been to reveal the absurdity of urban life and to confront both the dominant white
culture and various perspectives within Chicano culture, pointing to the pain and alienation
caused by both. This is often achieved by altering the media of the art itself, as opposed to just
the subject matter. Gamboa's most significant works include mail art of the 1970s, ASCO's "no
movies," the "urban opera" Ignore the Dents and Jetter's Jinx.
Gamboa has one son, Diego, born c. 1980, a product of his first marriage. In 1993 Gamboa
married his second wife, Chicano muralist Barbara Carrasco, after seven years of romantic and
professional involvement. Their daughter, Barbara Gamboa, was born in 1994.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The 93 black and white prints are unique in that they were hand-printed in 1995 by Willie Garcia along with Gamboa's supervision.
Although several of these images have been printed elsewhere, the quality and tonality of these prints will not be reproduced
by other photo lab techniques. Several of the negatives were lost. Seven of the 100 photographs are original Polaroid instant
prints.
Access Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Mexican American arts.
Mexican Americans.
Photography.
Photoprints.
Photographers.
Box 1, Item 1
Antizona (Diego) / (photo by Daniel J. Martinez), 1987
Box 1, Item 2
Huevitos (Humberto Sandoval and Barbara Carrasco), 1994
Box 1, Item 4
Barbara Carrasco(during pregnancy)and Gamboa,1994
Physical Description: [Polaroid]
Box 1, Item 5
Undoings (Irma Garcia), 1994
Box 1, Item 6
Humberto Sandoval at OTIS, 1983
Box 1, Item 10
LA. Familia (Humberto Sandoval), 1993
Box 1, Item 13
Evaporations (Paulina Sahagün), 1994
Box 1, Item 14
Eliminating the Sky (Anthony C. Sandoval), 1994
Box 1, Item 16
Gamboa and daughter Barbara / (photo by Barbara Carrasco) , 1995
Physical Description: Polaroid
Box 1, Item 18
Undoings (Moises Corrales), 1994
Box 1, Item 19
LA. Familia (Barbz & Diego), 1993
Box 1, Item 20
Friday (Teddy Sandoval), 1978
Box 1, Item 22
TJ Hooker (TV series gang episode scene shot on location in ELA), 1987
Box 1, Item 23
3 LAPD Cops Arrest I Man, 1981
Box 1, Item 27
Ruby, Richard & Son, 1979
Box 1, Item 28
Rodolfo Acuña, Barbz, Edwatd James Olmos, (UCLA meeting related to student hunger strike) 1993
Box 1, Item 30
Organic vs. Inorganic, 1978
Box 1, Item 31
Odd Squad (ELA new wave music group), 1984
Box 1, Item 33
Boy With Cotton Candy, 1979
Box 1, Item 34
Baby Barbie, Diego, & Barbz (Silverlake), 1994
Box 1, Item 35
America Tropical (SIQUEIROS mural, detail showing chewing gum on eyes), 1979
Box 1, Item 36
Children At Work Stuffing Pillows (ELA), 1979
Box 1, Item 37
Rudy Perez Jr. and Rudy Perez III, 1979
Box 1, Item 43
Raises de Sangre (Treviño's movie premiereGolden Gate Theater/ELA), 1979
Box 1, Item 47
Miltary Police in LA., 1991
Box 1, Item 50
Whittier Quake (Diego), 1987
Box 1, Item 51
Girls in costume (ELA), 1977
Box 1, Item 52
Chilito, Vanessa, & Beliñda (Diego's FLORES cousins), 1977
Box 1, Item 53
HarryT. Gamboa Retirement Party (ELA),
Physical Description: 1989
Box 1, Item 57
Max Benavidez, Victor Valle, Tere Romo, Diego Gamboa, Barbara Carrasco at John Vaiadez exhibition reception, (late 1980s)
Physical Description: polaroid
Box 1, Item 58
Undoings (Octavio Gaitan), 1994
Box 1, Item 59
Gamboa & Jose Montoya / (photo by Evangelina F. Gamboa), 1977
Box 1, Item 60
Patssi Valdez (Cover image, Regeneración), 1974
Box 1, Item 61
Gamboa in Mesa, AZ / (photo by Robert Buitron), 1983
Box 1, Item 62
Jetter's Jinx (Humberto Sandoval & Gronk), 1985
Box 1, Item 63
David Avalos visit to Gamboa class at CALARTS (also pictured Jody Zellen, Franklin Odel, Rick Salazar, and Lyle Ashton Hams),
1989
Box 1, Item 64
Zoot Suit Mural (Barara Carrasco & John Valadez), 1979
Box 1, Item 65
Void & Vain (Humberto Sandoval & HG) / (photo by Diane Gamboa), 1983
Box 1, Item 66
Imperfecto (Lorraine Ordaz, Humberto Sandoval, Debra Term, Sean Carnhlo), 1983
Box 1, Item 67
Venom vs Antidote (Diego & Apolina Vargas), 1994
Box 1, Item 68
Rene Yañez, RIo, Volanda Lopez, 1981
Box 1, Item 69
Undoings (Paulina Sahagün), 1994
Box 1, Item 70
OrganIc vs. Inorganic (Rlcardo Gonzalves), 1994
Box 1, Item 71
Undoings (Kate Vozoff), 1994
Box 1, Item 72
Losers Of The Game, 1980
Physical Description: [PolaroId]
Box 1, Item 74
Gronk, Humberto Sandoval, Willie Herron, Diego Garnboa, Gamboa dunng installation of ILLEGAL LANDSCAPE exhibit at CSULA, 1980
Physical Description: [Polaroid]
Box 1, Item 75
Undoings (Eddie Ayala), 1994
Box 1, Item 76
Yreina Cervantez, Frances Salome Espana, Ricardo Gonzalves, Barbara Carrasco, Maria Elena Gaitan, George Silva, Marcos Sanchez,
Max Benavidez, and Diego Gamboa. UC Irvine after ANTIZONA performance
Physical Description: [Polaroid]
Box 1, Item 77
Undoings (Maria Elena Gaitan), 1994
Box 1, Item 78
Loner With A Gun (Luis Becerra), 1994
Box 1, Item 79
Angst For The Memones, 1994
Box 1, Item 80
Undoings (Max Benavidez), 1994
Box 1, Item 82
Undoings (Del Zamora), 1994
Box 1, Item 83
Man Loses His Pants During Arrest, 1978
Box 1, Item 84
Social Unwest (rug-O-War), 1995
Box 1, Item 85
Social Unwest (Dead on street), 1995
Box 1, Item 87
Max Benavidez In Chinatown, 1994
Box 1, Item 88
Club Limbo (Gamboa and Max Benavidz / (photo by Diego Gamboa), 1989
Box 1, Item 89
ChIcano Artists (Gronk, Jerry Dreva, Patssi Valdez, Carlos Almaraz, John Valdez, Willie Herman, Gamboa), 1980
Box 1, Item 95
WIllie Herron With His Mural The Wall That Cracked Open, 1971
Box 1, Item 96
Richard Duardo, Barbz, Carlos Almaraz(CSULA), 1979
Box 1, Item 99
Harry Gamboa Jr. wearing Chicano Power Button in East LA. / (photo by Sylvia Delgado), 1971
Physical Description: [Polaroid]
Box 1, Item 100
Knife Attack Victim On Downtown LA. Sidewalk, 1986