LibGuides: Special Collections: Science Resources: Photography

Professional and art photography

Charlie Arnold print collection
The Charlie Arnold print collection (1959-2012) consists mainly of xerographic prints of found objects created in the 1980s.
Chicago Dzviti photograph collection
Photographs taken in the early 1990s by Dzviti in Zimbabwe, the United States, and Europe. See also Sekuru's Stories: https://sekuru.org/chicago-dzviti-collection/
Joseph Ernest Mock papers
Professional correspondence, printed ephemera relating to the Mock’s photography studio and examples of all photographic processes used by Mock from 1888 to 1941.
Michael Sze photograph collection
Photographs, mainly albumen and silver gelatin prints produced for the tourist trade, documenting travel to Asia, North Africa, Europe, the South Pacific, and Hawaii.
Palmyra (N.Y.) photograph collection
More than 300 photographs made 1890 to 1910. Collection consists of glass plate negatives and modern prints made from those plates. Reference images for this collection may be viewed via this database: https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/palmyra/search
Paul Hoeffler "Rochester Jazz" photographic collection
Nearly 200 fine art prints of musicians and singers in the 1950s and 1960s along with posters, media reviews, and recordings.
Rocky Simmons photographs
Simmons’ professional work of local events, weddings, musicians, sports teams, beauty contests, award ceremonies, and businesses are a unique window on the lives of Rochester's African American community at mid-20th century.

Rare Books in Photography

Photographically Illustrated Books (Hubbell Collection)
Around 450 books on a wide range of topics illustrated with mounted photographs, including original albumen prints, woodburytypes and other photomechanical prints. For a complete list of titles, search the Library Catalog for “ZZ6020”
Kodak History of Photography Collection
A discrete group of around 850 books and journals from 1840-1990s. Published materials about photography along with books and journals about and published by Eastman Kodak are found throughout the collections.

Photography

Special collections hold materials documenting Rochester’s rich contributions to the development of photography and the photographic industry as well as exemplars of professional and amateur photography in a variety of formats. Many manuscript collections contain photograph albums, portrait photography, stereoviews, or photomechanical printed materials.

Photography: technical and history of

Links to Collection Finding Aids

Carlson (Chester) Papers
The Chester Carlson Family Papers include a correspondence exchanged between Carlson and his relatives from 1951-1968, as well as materials related to patents that Carlson developed and his writings about xerography....
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The collection also includes Carlson's personal journals written from 1931-1968. There are also speeches delivered between 1954 and 1968. There is a large body of biographical materials created by Carlson as well as others who knew him. Included in the collection as scrapbooks with articles documenting Carlson's life and legacy from 1940-1968. There are also numerous items related to the Xerox Corporation, specifically the 1968 annual report, sales publications from the 1980s, as well as news and articles written about the company.
Carr (George) Papers
The George Carr Papers includes materials and papers that were gathered by former Xerox staff member, George P. Carr. Carr's personal papers related to documenting the Xerox company are in this collection. Materials related to further developing Xerography consist of paper samples, electric cloths, glass plates, metal plates, and color inks.
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The collection also includes operating manuals and brochures for various Xerox products. Information regarding the company such as annual reports from 1961–1973 and staff directories with telephone extensions for 1967–1971 are also in this collection, as well as patent applications from various Xerox machines.
Condax family papers
Louis M. Condax worked as a Research Scientist for Kodak Research Laboratories 1942 – 1962. Collection includes materials related to Condax’s technical achievements with the Kodak Dye Transfer and other color processes along with journals, reports and the research of others, including Harold ”Doc” Edgerton.
DeMoulin (Raymond) Papers
The papers consist primarily of domestic and European photography periodicals with articles about Mr. DeMoulin from 1987 to 1998. Also included is his account "Eastman Kodak Company and the Digital Revolution," written in 2009 in response to criticism of Kodak's reaction to the rise of digital photography.
Dessauer (John H.) Papers
Contains materials related to Dessauer's work on the Governing Board of the National Research Council, and his professional work with the Xerox Corporation as the company's Director of Research, Vice President, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, variously.
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The first series, Meeting minutes and agendas, Governing Board of the National Research Council, 1971-1976, contains nine boxes of meeting minutes and agendas for the Governing Board of the National Research Council, and is arranged chronologically.
Kodak Historical Collection #003 and Kodak Research Laboratory Collections
The Kodak Historical Collection #003 is organized into six series: Speeches, Corporate Papers, Products, Paper Mills and Paper Support Divisions, Recordak, Divisions.
Photographic Paper Collection
Includes four folders of price lists, product descriptions, and instructions that document the first decades of wide-spread professional and amateur photography in both the United States and England, from 1899-1927.
Staud (Cyril Jerome) papers
This collection consists of Staud's experiments and notes during the time he was researching cellulose and cellulose derivatives.

Librarian

Erin Fisher

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Contact:

Rush Rhees Library
755 Library Rd, Rochester, NY 14627

585-274-0459

Online resources

May Bragdon Diaries
Amateur photography is both displayed and referenced in these 10 fully transcribed and annotated diaries spanning 1893-1914. Created by Rochester’s May Bragdon (1865-1947), the diaries include more than 2700 photographs (mainly cyanotypes) created by Bragdon and her friends and family.
Rochester Gas & Electric Lantern Slide Collection
This online exhibit presents images of some of the over 500 glass plate lantern slides which make up the Rochester Gas & Electric Lantern Slide Collection. These slides would have been projected on a wall for presentation with the help of a magic lantern, a forerunner to the overhead projectors of the second half of the 20th century and today's digital presentation screens.
Celebrating Rochester's Rocky Simmons
Photographs of the activist, as well as those he took of people and places important to him.