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 3

John Valadez, 1986

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 7

Billy Estrada, 1979

Box 1, Item 8

Sean Carrillo, 1983

Box 1, Item 9

Louis Carios Bemal, 1983

Box 1, Item 10

LA. Familia (Humberto Sandoval), 1993

Box 1, Item 11

Henry Gutierrez, 1993*

Box 1, Item 12

Joe Medina, 1993*

Box 1, Item 13

Evaporations (Paulina Sahagün), 1994

Box 1, Item 14

Eliminating the Sky (Anthony C. Sandoval), 1994

Box 1, Item 15

Jack Vargas, 1994*

Box 1, Item 16

Gamboa and daughter Barbara / (photo by Barbara Carrasco) , 1995

Physical Description: Polaroid
Box 1, Item 17

Roberto Bedoya, 1994*

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 21

Sons of Soul, 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 24

Culver City Girls, 1979

Box 1, Item 25

3 Boys/UFW, 1979

Box 1, Item 26

Cesar Chavez, 1979

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 29

3 Boys/Skid Row, 1978

Box 1, Item 30

Organic vs. Inorganic, 1978

Box 1, Item 31

Odd Squad (ELA new wave music group), 1984

Box 1, Item 32

Molina & Roybal, 1989

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 38

Miguel Perez, 1981

Box 1, Item 39

Arthur Marchand, 1977

Box 1, Item 40

Cesar Rosas, 1991

Box 1, Item 41

Qctavio Paz, 1984

Box 1, Item 42

Sr. Pinhead, 1978

Box 1, Item 43

Raises de Sangre (Treviño's movie premiereGolden Gate Theater/ELA), 1979

Box 1, Item 44

Francisco Gonzalez, 1978

Box 1, Item 45

Javier Perez, 1974

Box 1, Item 46

Carlos Montes, 1979

Box 1, Item 47

Miltary Police in LA., 1991

Box 1, Item 48

Street Preacher, 1985

Box 1, Item 49

Culture Clash, 1987

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 54

Rodolfo Perez, 1982

Box 1, Item 55

Dancers, 1982

Box 1, Item 56

Carlos Fuentes, 1984

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 73

Asco8l, 1981

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 81

Daniel Villarreal, 1983

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 86

Betty & Pat, 1979

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 90

Mundo Meza, 1981

Box 1, Item 91

RobertBuitron, 1984

Box 1, Item 92

Gerardo Veiazquez, 1987

Box 1, Item 93

ASCO, 1975

Box 1, Item 94

Willie GarcIa, 1994

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 97

Max Benavidez, 1994

Box 1, Item 98

1975

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