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William Gedney Photographs and Writings, 1940s-1989

Title: William Gedney Photographs and Writings, 1940s-1989

William Gedney was a documentary photographer based in New York, N.Y. The William Gedney Photographs and Writings collection spans the 1940s to 1989, and includes negatives, contact sheets, proofs, prints, slides, indexes, handmade illustrated books, journals and diaries, and photographer's notebooks. The collection primarily documents Gedney's work as a photographer over several decades before his early death in 1989. The photographs document life in the United States, particularly in New York, rural Kentucky, and San Francisco; life in India, primarily in Benares and Calcutta; urban and rural landscapes across the United States; and American composers. Two themes in Gedney's oeuvre are his "Night" series and nudes. The "Night" series was created throughout most of Gedney's career and spanned all geographic locations. The nudes were primarily photographed at the Pratt Institute where Gedney taught. A body of handmade books in the collection were designed and made by Gedney and are illustrated with his photographic prints. More than half of the collection's series house photographic materials, and include the , and (transparencies) Series. Since the collection follows Gedney's arrangement by photograph formats, not subjects, images of most subjects are scattered throughout all of the series in the collection. Other formats are represented in the , and Series. Negatives, Contact Sheets, Proofs, Prints, Film Development Tests Slides Indexes, Writings and Notebooks, Miscellaneous, Print Material Book Projects

ArchivalResource: 60.3 Linear Feet; Approximately 50,000 Items

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