Polaroid Corporation records, series IV: Photographs and correspondence of Polaroid consultant photographer Ansel Adams
Test photographs dated November 16, 1949 Digital
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."
Correspondence, November 1951 Digital
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.
Correspondence, October 1952 Digital
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.
Correspondence, November 1952 Digital
In this letter, Adams mentions writing to the Walter Mann Company about a photographic reproduction project for Polaroid.
Correspondence, December 1952 Digital
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.
Correspondence, January 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, February 1953 Digital
Correspondence, March 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, April 1953 Digital
Photograph album "Ansel Adams" dated April 19, 1953, Type 40 series Digital
Correspondence, May 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, June 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, July 1953 Digital
Correspondence, August 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, September 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, October 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, November 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, December 1953 Digital
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.
Hasselblad tests, June-October 1953 Digital
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.
Correspondence, January 1954 Digital
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.
Correspondence, February 1954 Digital
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.