Swann (Wim) photograph collection

Series I. Book projects, 1963-1995

Physical Description: circa 42 linear feet

Scope and Content Note

Series I contains a nearly complete set of photographs for Swaan's entire book production, consisting of 18 publications, four unfinished projects, and one project in progress at the time of his death. Most projects contain black-and-white prints, color transparencies and slides, black-and-white contact prints, and black-and-white negatives. Additionally, a small number of projects include Swaan's notes, and the files for the book Japanese lantern include the manuscript draft.

Arrangement note

Projects are arranged chronologically by publication date. Within individual boxes, photographic materials used for publication are arranged in plate number order; materials not used for publication and contact sheets are generally arranged geographically.

Mecca the Blessed, Madinah the Radiant, 1963

Scope and Content Note

Swaan was not the principal photographer for this book.

box 1, folder 1

Black-and-white photographs used for publication plates

box 67, folder 1

Color transparencies used for publication plates

Moorish Spain, 1963

Black-and-white images

box 1, folder 2-3

Photographs used for publication plates

box 1, folder 4

Photographs used in publication (non-plates)

Photographs not used in publication

box 1, folder 5

Cordoba

box 1, folder 6

Seville

box 1-2

Granada

box 2, folder 2-3

Unidentified locations

box 2-3

Contact prints

box 67-68

Negatives

Color images

box 67, folder 2

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 67, folder 3

Transparencies not used in publication

Constantinople from Byzantium to Istanbul, 1965

Black-and-white images

box 4, folder 1-2

Photographs used for publication plates

box 4, folder 3-4

Photographs not used in publication

box 4, folder 5

Contact prints

Color images

box 68, folder 2

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 68, folder 3

Duplicates of transparencies

Japanese Lantern, 1965

Black-and-white images

box 4, folder 6

Photographs used for publication plates

box 4-5

Photographs not used in publication

box 5, folder 6

Contact prints

Scope and Content Note

Includes one sheet of contact prints labeled "Philippines".

box 69-70

Color slides

box 53-54

Manuscript draft

Scope and Content Note

Contains many ink drawings.

Thebes of the Pharaohs, 1965

box 6, folder 1

Notebook

Black-and-white images

box 6, folder 2-3

Photographs used for publication plates

box 6-7

Photographs not used in publication

box 7, folder 3-6

Contact prints

box 72

Negatives

Color images

box 71, folder 1

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 71, folder 2

Transparencies and slides not used in publication

Isfahan, Pearl of Persia, 1966

Black-and-white images

box 8, folder 1-2

Photographs used for publication plates

box 8, folder 3

Photographs of objects in museum collections

box 8, folder 4-5

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 8, folder 6

Contact prints

Scope and Content Note

Images of Afghanistan, Iran, Damascus (Syria), and Egypt.

box 73, folder 3

Negatives

Color images

box 73, folder 1

Transparencies and slides used for publication plates

box 73, folder 2

Transparencies of objects in museum collections

Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor 1966

Selected digitized images from Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor: 1966

view online item

Scope and Content Note

Production materials for the publication Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor . Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the ancient art and architecture of present-day Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia and Thailand. Unpublished images also include content that falls outside the scope of the subject of the publication, such as the Grand Palace in Bangkok and wooden houses in rural areas of Thailand.

box 9, folder 1-2

Notes and bibliography

Black-and-white images

box 9, folder 3

Photographs used for publication plates

box 9, folder 4

Photographs used in publication (non-plates)

Photographs not used in publication

box 9, folder 5

Ceylon

box 9, folder 6-7

Burma

box 10, folder 1-2

Cambodia

box 10, folder 3-5

Contact prints

box 74, folder 2

Negatives

Color images

box 73, folder 4

Slides and transparencies used for publication plates

box 74, folder 1

Slides not used in publication

Age of Plantagenet and Valois, 1967

Scope and Content Note

Swaan was not the only photographer for this project.

Black-and-white images

box 11, folder 1

Photographs used for publication plates

box 11, folder 2

Photographs not used in publication

box 26, folder 1-5

Contact prints

Scope and Content Note

Filed with contact prints for Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance (1970).

box 90

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Filed with black-and-white negatives for Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance (1970).

box 74, folder 3

Color transparencies used for publication plates

Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat, 1967

Selected digitized images from Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat: 1967

view online item

Scope and Content Note

Production materials for the publication Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat . Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the art and architecture of Morocco. Unpublished images also include views of cities not listed in the publication title, such as Salé, Rissani and Meknès.

Black-and-white images

box 11, folder 3-4

Photographs used for publications plates

box 11, folder 5-6

Photographs not used in publication

box 76, folder 1

Polaroids

box 12, folder 1-2

Contact prints

box 76, folder 2

Negatives

Color images

box 75, folder 1

Transparencies and slides used for publication plates

box 75, folder 2-3

Transparencies and slides not used in publication and duplicates

Tibet, 1967

Black-and-white images

box 12, folder 3

Photographs used for publication plates

box 12, folder 4

Photographs not used in publication

box 12, folder 5

Contact prints

box 77, folder 3

Negatives

Color images

box 77, folder 1

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 77, folder 2

Transparencies and slides not used in publication and duplicates

Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri , 1968

Selected digitized images from Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri,: 1968

view online item

Scope and Content Note

Production materials for the publication Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri . Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the art and architecture of the Mughal periods in India. Unpublished images also include content that falls outside the scope of the subject of the publication, such as government buildings in New Delhi and buildings designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in Chandīgarh.

Black-and-white images

box 12, folder 6-7

Photographs used for publication plates

Photographs not used in publication

box 13, folder 1-2

Delhi

box 13, folder 3-4

Agra

box 13, folder 5

Fatehpur Sikri

box 13, folder 6

Other locations

box 14, folder 1

Photographs of objects in museum collections

box 14, folder 2

Contact prints

box 78, folder 2

Negatives

Color images

box 77, folder 4

Transparencies and slides used for publication plates

box 77-78

Transparencies, slides and prints not used in publication

Flemish Cities, Their History and Art, 1969

Scope and Content Note

Swaan is credited as the primary photographer for this book, but it also contains many images by others.

Black-and-white images

box 14, folder 3

Photographs used for publication plates

box 14, folder 4-5

Photographs not used in publication

box 14, folder 6

Contact prints

box 79, folder 2

Negatives

box 79, folder 1

Color transparencies

Gothic Cathedral, 1969

box 15, folder 1-2

Notes

Scope and Content Note

Includes handcopied excerpts from texts on Gothic architecture.

Black-and-white images

box 15-16

Photographs used for publication plates

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 17, folder 1-3

France

box 17, folder 4-5

England

box 17, folder 6

Germany and Austria

box 18, folder 1

Spain

box 18, folder 2

Italy

box 18, folder 3

Unidentified locations

box 148**

Oversize photographs

Contact prints

box 18-19

France

box 19, folder 2-4

England

box 19-20

Germany, Spain and Italy

box 81-85

Negatives

Color images

box 79, folder 3

Transparencies used for publication plates

Transparencies not used in publication and duplicates

box 79-80

France

box 80, folder 2

England

box 80, folder 3

Germany and Austria

box 80, folder 4

Spain

box 80, folder 5

Italy

box 80, folder 6

Unidentified

Medici: A Great Florentine Family, 1969

Black-and-white images

box 20, folder 4-5

Photographs used for publication plates

box 21-22

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 22, folder 2-4

Contact prints

box 85-86

Negatives

Color images

box 85, folder 2

Transparencies used for publication prints

box 85, folder 3

Transparencies not used in publication

Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance , 1970

Black-and-white images

box 22-23

Photographs used for publication plates

Photographs not used in publication

box 23-24

France

box 24, folder 2-3

Belgium, Holland and Britain

box 24, folder 4-5

Spain

box 25, folder 1

Germany, Austria and Switzerland

box 25, folder 2

Portugal and Czechoslovakia

box 25, folder 3-4

Italy and Turkey

box 25, folder 5-6

Duplicates of photographs

box 90, folder 2

Polaroids

box 26, folder 1-5

Contact prints

box 88-90

Negatives

Color images

box 87, folder 1

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 87, folder 2

Transparencies not used in publication

Monastic World, 1974

Scope and Content Note

The repository does not have any of the the images used for color publication plates for this project. Color plates lost by Granada Publishing. See Moira Johnston files in Series III for letter dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.

Black-and-white images

box 27-29

Photographs used for publication plates

Scope and Content Note

Includes some alternate images.

box 29-30

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 30-31

Contact prints

box 91, 93-94

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.

box 91, folder 1

Color transparencies not used in publication

box 30, folder 6

Handwritten index of publication plates

Late Middle Ages, 1977

Scope and Content Note

The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project. See Moira Johnston files in Series III for letter dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.

Black-and-white images

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 31, folder 2-4

England

box 31-32

France

box 32, folder 3

Netherlands

box 32, folder 4-6

Germany and Austria

box 33, folder 1-3

Spain

box 33, folder 4-5

Portugal

box 33, folder 6

Italy

Scope and Content Note

This country does not appear in the publication.

box 33, folder 7-8

Unidentified locations

box 34-35

Contact prints

box 91, 93-94

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Some black-and-white negatives filed with those from Monastic World in Box 91. Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.

box 92

Color transparencies not used in publication

Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration, 1978

Black-and-white images

box 35-36

Photographs used for publication plates

Photographs not used in publication

box 36, folder 4-5

Italy

box 37, folder 1

France

box 37, folder 2

England

box 37, folder 3-4

Central and Eastern Europe

box 37, folder 5

Iberian Peninsula

Duplicates of photographs

box 37-38

Italy

box 38, folder 2

France

box 38, folder 3

England

box 38, folder 4

Central and Eastern Europe

box 38, folder 5

Iberian Peninsula

box 38, folder 6

Unidentified locations

box 38-39

Contact prints

box 93-94, 96-97

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.

Color images

box 95

Transparencies used for publication plates

box 95

Transparencies not used in publication

Lost Civilizations of America, circa 1977-1981

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to an unfinished project.

box 39, folder 3

Notes and photocopies of articles

Black-and-white images

box 39, folder 4

Photographs

Contact prints

box 39, folder 5

Mexico

box 39, folder 6

Guatemala

box 39, folder 7

Honduras

box 39, folder 8

Colombia

box 39, folder 9

Peru

box 39, folder 10

Bolivia

box 150

Negatives

box 98-99, 149

Color transparencies and slides

Spanish Colonial Baroque in America, circa 1978-1981

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to an unfinished project. Locations visited and photographed by Swaan include Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras and the United States.

box 40, folder 1-8

Notes, photocopies of articles and shot lists

Black-and-white images

box 40-42

Photographs

box 42-44, 101-102

Contact prints

box 104-105

Negatives

box 100-103

Color transparencies and slides

Hellenistic Art and Architecture, circa 1978

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to an unfinished project.

box 44, folder 4

Notes and shot lists

Black-and-white images

box 44-45

Photographs

box 45, folder 4

Duplicates of photographs

box 46, folder 1-3

Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints

box 106, folder 2

Negatives

box 106, folder 1

Color transparencies

Persepolis and Susa, circa 1970s

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to an unfinished project.

Black-and-white images

box 46, folder 4-6

Photographs

Contact prints

box 8, folder 6

Iran

Scope and Content Note

Filed with contact prints for Isfahan, Pearl of Persia.

box 46, folder 7

Museum objects at the Louvre

box 106, folder 4

Negatives

box 106, folder 3

Color transparencies and slides

Oxford and Cambridge, 1988

Scope and Content Note

The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project.

box 47, folder 1-2

Correspondence

box 47, folder 3-6

Notes and photocopies of articles

Black-and-white images

box 48, folder 1-2

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 48-49

Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints

box 107-108

Negatives

box 107, folder 1

Color transparencies not used in publication and duplicates

Art and Architecture of Nepal, circa 1995

Scope and Content Note

The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project. This project was in process at the time of Swaan's death.

box 49, folder 5-6

Correspondence

Black-and-white images

box 50-51

Photographs not used in publication and duplicates

box 51-52

Contact prints

box 110-111

Negatives

box 109-110

Color transparencies and slides

box 55

Book jackets

Scope and Content Note

Many clipped.

Series II. Other photographs, 1951-1995, bulk 1988-1995 bulk

Physical Description: 14.5 Linear Feet

Scope and Content Note

Series II contains photographs not published in book format by Swaan of various geographical regions. Coverage is extensive for Islamic Turkey and Egypt, Ancient Egypt, India, Pakistan, the landscape of the American West, and stained glass. Some images of sites in Turkey, Egypt and India duplicate those in Series I, which Swaan shot approximately twenty five years earlier. Most images are represented only in color transparencies and slides, and do not exist in printed form. A number of images were held at photo stockhouses for commercial sale.

Arrangement note

Materials are arranged by photographic campaign in rough chronological order.

Photographic experiments, circa 1964

Scope and Content Note

Materials documenting Swaan's experimentation with different techniques. Primarily photographs taken in and around Swaan's first New York apartment in 1964.

box 59, folder 1

Notes

Black-and-white images

box 56-59

Photographs

Scope and Content Note

Versos of many of the prints contain Swaan's annotations.

box 112

Polaroids

box 112

Negatives

box 112

Color slides and transparencies

box 59, folder 2

Europe, 1951-1952

Scope and Content Note

Black-and-white contact prints.

South Africa, circa late 1950s

Scope and Content Note

Images of early paintings and architecture, people types, landscape views, buildings, and animals from various regions.

Black-and-white images

box 59, folder 3

Contact prints

box 113

Negatives

box 113

Color slides

Greece (Acropolis), circa early 1960s

Scope and Content Note

All images are black-and-white.

box 59, folder 4

Photographs

box 59, folder 5

Contact prints

Scope and Content Note

Noted on many of the sheets: "Negatives with Gordon Bishop".

New York, and Wyndover Woods, circa 1964

Scope and Content Note

All images are black-and-white. Includes images of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Flatiron Building.

box 59, folder 6

Photographs

box 59, folder 6

Contact prints

box 59, folder 6

Polaroids

box 142

Negatives

box 59, folder 7

Portugal, circa 1960s

Scope and Content Note

Black-and-white contact prints.

Miscellaneous, undated

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of objects from the Marjorie Merriweather Post Russian Collection, and of various locations in Europe, the Near East and the Far East.

Black-and-white images

box 59, folder 8-10

Photographs

box 59, folder 8-10

Contact prints

box 114

Negatives

box 114

Color slides and transparencies

India, 1988

Black-and-white images

box 60, folder 3

Photographs of Khajuraho

box 60, 118-121

Contact prints

box 110-111

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for Art and Architecture of Nepal . See Series I, Boxes 110-111.

box 118-122

Color transparencies and slides

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of Agra, Sikandra, Fatehpur Sikri, Baria, Ajmer, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Mt. Abu, Khajuraho, Delhi.

Pakistan, 1988

Black-and-white images

box 60, 117

Contact prints

box 110-111

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for Art and Architecture of Nepal . See Series I, Boxes 110-111.

box 117, 122

Color transparencies and slides

Egypt, Yemen, Damascus, 1990

Black-and-white images

box 60, folder 5

Photographs

box 60, 123-127

Contact prints

box 130

Negatives

box 123-129

Color transparencies and slides

Scope and Content Note

Boxes 128-129 contain mostly color slides of Islamic Egypt returned from the FPG [Freelance Photographers Guild].

Turkey, 1992

Black-and-white images

box 60, folder 7-8

Photographs

box 61, 131-135

Contact prints

box 138-139

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Includes some negatives from 1962.

Color transparencies and slides

box 131-133, 136-137

West cities

box 134-137

East cities

box 61, folder 3-4

Uncontracted and non-book photographs, undated

Scope and Content Note

Mix of all styles and periods.

box 61, folder 5-7

Contact prints not for Elek, 1968-1969, 1971-1972

Scope and Content Note

Mix of all styles and periods.

box 115-116

Stained glass, 1986

Scope and Content Note

Color slides and transparencies.

box 140, folder 1

England, 1994

Scope and Content Note

Color slides.

box 140-141

Italy, 1994-1995

Scope and Content Note

Color slides and some black-and-white negatives and contact prints. Swaan's last photo expedition.

American landscape 1975-1995

Scope and Content Note

Mostly color slides and transparencies, with some black-and-white contact prints and black-and-white negatives throughout.

box 142

Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico, 1975-1976

box 142

New Orleans plantation houses, 1977

box 142

New Mexico and Arizona, 1980, 1995

box 143

Yellowstone and the Tetons, 1982

box 143

Oregon and Colorado, 1983-1985

box 144

Grand Canyon, 1984

box 144

Alaska, Vancouver and Puget Sound, 1984

box 144

Death Valley and Southern States, undated

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

box 145

New York, 1977-1993

box 145

Colorado and California, 1982

box 146

California, 1987-1988

box 147

Various places in the Eastern United States, 1988-1989

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of New York, Washington (D.C.), Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and specifically Philadelphia, University of Virginia, Monticello, Station St. Louis, and Amish Country.

box 147

Southwest tour, 1991

box 147

Quebec City, 1994

Series III. Papers, 1958-1995

Physical Description: 3 Linear Feet

Scope and Content Note

Series III comprises correspondence, invoices, and permission requests for sales and book projects. The letters between Swaan (photocopies) and his London agent are interspersed with personal information. Also included are authorizations from governments and cultural institutions for Swaan to photograph locations abroad, some notes and the original copy of his two volume thesis.

Arrangement note

Materials are arranged by topic.

Camera Press Ltd. (represented Swaan's production that was not handled by Elek), 1966-1995

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence and sales statements.

box 62, folder 1

1966-1976

box 62, folder 2

1976-1984

box 62, folder 3

1984-1995

Moira Johnston (Swaan's London agent from 1981-1995 for photos in Elek books), 1977-1994

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, mostly business but some personal, contracts, sales statements.

box 62, folder 4

1977-1980

box 62, folder 5

1980-1983

box 62, folder 6

1984-1987

box 62, folder 7

1987-1994

box 63, folder 1-2

FPG (Freelance Photographers Guild) International, 1984-1995

Scope and Content Note

Lists of submitted photos, sales statements and correspondence.

box 63, folder 3

Les Editions Réalités, 1970

Scope and Content Note

Mostly correspondence.

box 63, folder 4

Cornell University Press/Harper & Row, 1977-1981

Scope and Content Note

Mostly invoices for book sales to Swaan.

Miscellaneous inquiries, 1968-1995

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence concerning reproductions and permission to publish.

box 63, folder 5-7

1968-1991

box 64, folder 1-3

1991-1995

box 64, folder 4

Miscellaneous financial documents, 1976-1979, 1987

Scope and Content Note

Includes expense accounts for various trips, a letter related to preparing taxes for 1976, and income from photography for the 1987 tax year.

box 64, folder 5

Bibliography and reviews

box 64, folder 6

Authorizations (used)

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence that gives Swaan permission to photograph various sites.

box 64, folder 7

Letters from Japan, 1960

box 64, folder 8

"The Armor of Light," 1984-1985

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with Meredith Lillich about a proposed book on stained glass. See Series II, Boxes 115-116 for related color slides and transparencies.

box 64, folder 9

Latent Image (periodical), 1991-1992

Scope and Content Note

Notes.

box 64, folder 10

Working notebook, undated

box 64, folder 11

Notes, undated

Scope and Content Note

Handwritten translations of French phrases.

box 65-66

Master's thesis, 1958

Scope and Content Note

"Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic housing for the lower-income groups with special reference to housing European families with children in South Africa". Submitted to the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, October 1958. 2 volumes.

Container List