Polaroid Corporation records, series IV: Photographs and correspondence of Polaroid consultant photographer Ansel Adams

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Sepia test photographs taken in Concord, Massachusetts, labeled on the back "Type 5107 on S1515, Freddy’s first experimental machine, G929 type pod, stand-neg."

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Adams writes with the idea of doing a Polaroid Land camera book, and suggests advertising Polaroid beyond amateur markets. He also writes about a meeting and discussion of Polaroid with Life magazine Chief of Photography Frank Scherschell.

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Adams writes with the idea of doing a Polaroid Land camera book, and suggests advertising Polaroid beyond amateur markets. He also writes about a meeting and discussion of Polaroid with Life magazine Chief of Photography Frank Scherschell.

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In this letter, Adams mentions writing to the Walter Mann Company about a photographic reproduction project for Polaroid.

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One memorandum has a subject: "Adams retainer (through 1952) and new arrangement." Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and Type 40 series film, and also discusses the question of the permanency of photos and coating.

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In the correspondence for this month, Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and Type 40 series film, and also mentions using a Polaroid back with his Graphic camera. He also discusses the reproduction project and the Walter Mann Company making engravers negatives for it, and in another letter, the possibilities of using Polaroid materials for medical work.

Scope and Contents Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and the Polaroid Land back, focussing hood, and extension focussing back that he used with his Graphic camera. He also writes about testing the following Type 40 films: "Ortho," "Aero," "high-speed, long-scale pan," "fast pan" "EO 11 ortho" "fast Ortho" and "Regular". In the correspondence he also discusses Polaroid's reproduction project, and comments on the "rubber cement effect" and a Polaroid exhibit at a photo conference at the George...

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Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, and the Polaroid back with his Graphic camera, as well as the "New Ortho (E011)" and "Regular" film, in the correspondence for this month. The black and white test photographs associated with the correspondence include ones of Yosemite National Park, nature details, an outdoor Buddha statue at the Golden Gate Park, and the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona.

Scope and Contents Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and "regular" and "ortho" film. One letter on "regular" and "fast pan" film, and on the ideal camera and other equipment, is notably long (17 pages). He also mentions the Polaroid instruction manual and the reproduction project. Also included are letters to and from John Morris at Magnum Photos. The black and white test photographs associated with the correspondence are of the Mission San Xavier del Bac and the Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo,...

Scope and Contents Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and "regular" and "ortho" film. One letter on "regular" and "fast pan" film, and on the ideal camera and other equipment, is notably long (17 pages). He also mentions the Polaroid instruction manual and the reproduction project. Also included are letters to and from John Morris at Magnum Photos. The black and white test photographs associated with the correspondence are of the Mission San Xavier del Bac and the Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo,...

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In the correspondence for this month, Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera as well as "Pan high-speed" and "ordinary" film. Included among the letters and memoranda are an index of his ideas to date, and a letter from John Morris at Magnum Photos.

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Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera and Plus-X film. He also writes about the possibility of Polaroid buying advertising space in the new Aperture magazine, Magnum Photos' interest in doing a story on Polaroid, and conducting Hasselblad tests. The black and white test photographs associated with the correspondence for this month were taken in Marin County and in Yosemite National Park.

Scope and Contents Adams writes about testing the "standard Land camera," the Pathfinder camera, "super-speed" and "regular" film. He also writes about the publication of one of his Polaroid photographs in Aperture magazine, a photographic project he was doing with Dorothea Lange on a Mormon town for Life magazine, the use of Polaroid cameras by students in the California School of Fine Arts Photography Department, and the Polaroid reproduction project. One letter expresses his frustration with Polaroid film...

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Adams writes about testing the "Pan-paper (Sig. C.) materials"and "black-and-white regular" film. The black and white test photographs associated with the correspondence for this month are of the San Juan Bautista Mission in San Juan Bautista, California, and of the Mission San Xavier Del Bac.

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One memorandum among this correspondence has a subject: "Dialectic discussion on the drastic decisions of dynamic densities, conflicting curves, artistic approximations, and obvious obsessions." Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, "New fast ortho" and "special high-speed" film. He also mentions the reproduction project, advertising, the Polaroid instruction manual, and the ideal camera. Black and white test photographs.

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In the correspondence for this month, Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, "Pan" and "Regular" film. Also mentioned in the correspondence is the reproduction project and Walter J. Mann Company's and H.S. Crocker & Co.'s involvement. The black and white test photographs from this month are of the Golden Gate Bridge Pier and of an unidentified man.

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Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, "Pan" and "E088" film. Included in the correspondence is a letter mentioning Adams' first photograph published in Aperture magazine. He also writes about the reproduction project. The black and white test photographs include several portraits of Adams' daughter Anne.

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Adams writes about testing the Polaroid back with his Graphic camera, and Plus-X film. He also writes about lithography and half-tone reproductions. The lithographic reproductions associated with the correspondence for this month are of a Polaroid photograph by Adams, printed by H.S. Crocker & Co.

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These materials include instructions from Polaroid to Adams to make photographic enlargements from a set of negatives they had sent him, along with two letters from Adams referencing these efforts as the Hasselblad-Polaroid print efforts, resulting photographic enlargements and curve graphs.

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One memorandum has a subject: "Proposed insert for Annual Report." Adams also writes about testing "E088", "Regular B&W" and Plus-X film. Several letters to Land from Adams include discussions on creative photographers and how Polaroid materials represent a new medium for them, as well as on how Polaroid advertises its products. The black and white test photographs are of Nancy and Beaumont Newhall.

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Adams writes about testing the Plus-X film and declares that it is the best film Polaroid has produced so far. The test photographs includes a "Be My Plus-X Valentine" to Meroë Morse, along with images of objects inside Adams' home, a salt mill and a lion sculpture at a park.

Scope and Contents One memorandum among the correspondence for this month has a subject: "Test of Gray card, photo, etc." Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, as well as "E0 77," Plus-X, "N4X," "Regular," "DE 2778 BX," "Old Aero," "E0 88," "Dex," and "PL4137" film, sometimes using the Polaroid back with his Graphic camera to shoot the film. Included among these letters and memoranda are discussions of better camera design, the differences between average photographers and creative photographers,...

Scope and Contents One memorandum among the correspondence for this month has a subject: "Test of Gray card, photo, etc." Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, as well as "E0 77," Plus-X, "N4X," "Regular," "DE 2778 BX," "Old Aero," "E0 88," "Dex," and "PL4137" film, sometimes using the Polaroid back with his Graphic camera to shoot the film. Included among these letters and memoranda are discussions of better camera design, the differences between average photographers and creative photographers,...

Scope and Contents Adams writes about testing Plus-X and "E0 88" film. He also mentions ordering a Calumet copying stand in order to make copies of Polaroid photos, and engravings associated with the reproduction project. Includes a letter from Adams to Land reviewing his current ideas and projects for Polaroid, and another one with a humorous ode written in response to a Harper's magazine article on mountain climbers. The correspondence also includes a letter to Tom Maloney at U.S. Camera magazine. The black...

Scope and Contents One memorandum has a subject: "Idea for new exposure record form." Adams writes about testing the Pathfinder camera, "Regular material," Plus-X, "Dex018" and copy film. The correspondence also includes letters to Land and Morse outlining and discussing in depth Adams' current thoughts on Polaroid, including on professional photographers' resistance to using Polaroid products. There is also discussion about creating an insert for U.S. Camera magazine of Adams' Polaroid photographs. The black...