Records of Schneider/Erdman, Inc. and Papers of Gary Schneider, 1983-2011
Overview
This collection consists of the business records of Schneider/Erdman, Inc. and records documenting Gary Schneider’s own portrait photography. The bulk of the records date from 1983-2001. Includes corporate records, press clippings, correspondence, photographs, audio/visual material, and books.
Dates
- Creation: 1983-2011
Conditions on Access
Unrestricted
Conditions on Use
Copyright: The donor has transferred any copyright held in these papers to the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright in some papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the Harvard Art Museums Archives before publishing quotations from any material in the collection.
Copying: Papers may be copied in accordance with the Harvard Art Museums Archives' usual procedures.
Extent
4.5 linear feet (2 cartons, 1 file box, 1 card box, 1 oversize folio box)The collection consists of material documenting Schneider/Erdman, Inc.’s business practices and growth from its founding in 1981 to its dissolution in the early 2000s, as well as books, printed examples, and audio/visual material of partner Gary Schneider’s own photography work. Correspondence of note includes lab notes on photographer John Schabel’s prints; a letter from Sally Mann written on the back of two of her own prints; faxes and letters regarding the proofs for Madonna’s Sex; and form letters dictating the limits of Schneider/Erdman’s liability signed by many contemporary art photographers. Press clippings both document Schneider/Erdman’s expertise and reputation and show published examples of their work for newspapers and magazines.
All material in this collection has been rehoused into acid-free folders and boxes. Material was arranged in original order when possible, and alphabetically by folder title when original order did not exist. Notes and additional information are indicated by square brackets [ ].
Glossy photographs and acidic material are protected through isolation in Mylar sleeves or preservation paper. Adhesive notes were photocopied in situ and moved to preservation paper. Oversize items were separated and housed in a folio box.
Biography:
Schneider/Erdman, Inc. was a photoprinting business in New York City. It was established in 1981 when partners Gary Schneider and John Erdman began making prints for contemporary art photographers, many of whom were also friends. Schneider (b. 1954) a photographer and artist, and Erdman (b. 1948), a performance artist, specialized in producing and retouching black-and-white prints for photographers such as Nan Goldin, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, and Mary Ellen Mark. Schneider/Erdman also made prints for reproduction and printing proofs for published art books, including Brian Lanker's I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America and Madonna's Sex. Outside of the Photography Lab, Schneider's work as a photographer used elements of the printing process - such as pressing body parts into photo emulsion and printing the result, using extreme close-ups of his subject, or using a moving light with an open shutter - to create abstract portraiture.
Series in the Collection
This collection is arranged in two series. Series I, the records of Schneider/Erdman, Inc., includes corporate records, business correspondence, forms, notes, press clippings, and books made with Schneider/Erdman prints. Series II, the papers of Gary Schneider, includes copies of his photography books, press for Genetic Self-Portrait, and audio-visual material of his lectures on the photo processing techniques he developed as an artist and printer.
- Series I. Records of Schneider/Erdman, Inc
- Series II. Papers of Gary Schneider
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This material was donated to Harvard Art Museums Archives by Gary Schneider and John Erdman in 2017.
Box and Folder Locations
- Box 1: 1-15
- Box 2: 16-25
- Box 3: 26-27; 32-40
- Box 4: 28-31
- Box 5: 41-52
- Box 6: 53-60
- Box 7: 61-67
General note
Names
- Erdman, John
- Dahl-Wolfe, Louise
- Gober, Robert, 1954 -
- Madonna, 1958 -
- Mann, Sally, 1951 -
- Mark, Mary Ellen, 1940 - 2015
- Schabel, John
- Schneider, Gary, 1954 -
- Wojnarowicz, David
General note
Subjects
- Schneider, Gary -- 1954 - Exhibitions
- New York (City)
- Photography, Artistic
- Photography - Printing processes
General note
Genre Form
- Audio-visual materials
- Photographs
Processing Information
The collection was processed from January 2018 to February 2018 by Ella Lesatele with assistance from Michelle Interrante and Megan Schwenke.
- Title
- Records of Schneider/Erdman, Inc. and Papers of Gary Schneider (SC 27), 1983-2011: A Guide
- Author
- Harvard Art Museums Archives
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- art00044
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Art Museums Archives Repository
The Harvard Art Museums Archives is the official repository for institutional records and historical documents in all formats relating to the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 1895 to the present. Its collections include papers of individuals and groups associated with the museums' history, including records of past exhibitions, architectural plans, photographs, scrapbooks, and memorabilia, as well as correspondence with collectors, gallery owners, museum professionals, and artists throughout the twentieth century. Its holdings also document the formation of the museums' collections and its mission as a teaching institution.
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