Camhi (Morrie) Photograph Archive, 1970-1988

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Summary

Title:
Morrie Camhi photograph archive
Dates:
1970-1988
Creators:
Camhi, Morrie
Extent:
31 boxes (circa 1,380 photographic prints and circa 11,630 negatives) : b&w ; 16 x 20 in. or smaller
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Morrie Camhi photograph archive, BANC PIC 2005.109, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes negatives and selected prints from Camhi’s major series of portraiture: Farmworkers, Petaluma, Espejo: Reflections of the Mexican-American, Jews of Greece, AD-Vantage, Roadside Attraction and The Prison Experience. Also includes negatives pertaining to other projects and subjects, as well as miscellaneous photographic prints, correspondence, financial records and other papers.

The collection does not include any material pertaining to two of the photograher’s major projects: Haiku, and Journal.

Biographical / historical:

Morrie Camhi was born in New York City in 1928 to Greek Jewish immigrant parents. He attended High School in Los Angeles and studied English literature at UCLA. After college, Camhi -- a self-taught photographer -- established a commercial photography business in Petaluma, where he would live for the remainder of his life. In 1972 he began to teach photography at San Francisco City College. He also taught at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, University of Oregon, Columbia College at Chicago, Sonoma State Univeristy, and Friends of Photography, among other locations. Morrie Camhi died in 1999.

Morrie Camhi’s sister was Rebecca Camhi Fromer (1927-2012), who founded, with her husband Seymour Fromer, the Judah L. Magnes Museum (now the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library).

Acquisition information:
Gift of Lynn Camhi, 2004.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Note:

Some series descriptions include quotations taken from the photographer's website: http://www.stare.net/camhi/

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Chris McDonald, Raquel Parra and Estela Sanchez
Date Prepared:
© 2013
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by GenX; markup validated by The Bancroft Library using CDL validation tools; Date of source: July 2013

Access and use

Restrictions:

B boxes 1, 5, 6, 9, 15 and 16 RESTRICTED EXHIBITION PRINTS. Consult finding aid for shelving locations of smaller use prints. Access to restricted prints only by permission of the appropriate curator. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

NEGATIVES RESTRICTED. Use of negatives only by permission of the appropriate curator. Inquiries regarding these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

Terms of access:

Copyright retained by the photographer's heir for her lifetime, after which it has been granted to the library.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Morrie Camhi photograph archive, BANC PIC 2005.109, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
Website