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[Identification of item], Rob Amberg Photographs and Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The Rob Amberg Photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2004, 2007, and 2008. The Papers were received in 2011.
Processed by Kenneth Dasher, July 2009
Encoded by Kenneth Dasher and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, August 2009
2011 Accession processed and encoded by Carrie Mills, June 2011.
Accessions 2004-0338, 2007-0130, 2008-0049, and 2011-0067 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Rob Amberg's photographs and writings have been exhibited and published nationally and internationally in journals, magazines, and galleries. He lectures frequently and performs regular documentary assignments for non-profit organizations, philanthropic foundations and editorial publications. He is the recipient of fellowships and awards from numerous organizations, including: the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Center for Documentary Studies, Alternate Roots, the North Carolina Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
His book,
The Rob Amberg Photographs and Papers span the years 1975-2009.
The photographs consist of 8x10 and 11x14 inch gelatin silver prints and pigmented inkjet color prints. Amberg's focus as a photographer is primarily the social customs of the rural South, especially in his home state of North Carolina. He has a special concern for documenting the way in which industrial and economic progress seems to be erasing many aspects of rural culture at the turn of the twenty-first century. The collection is arranged into three project series:
Amberg's papers are organized into 4 series. The
The
Amberg worked and contributed to a number of non-profit organizations dealing with farm worker's rights and other social issues. Collections of materials relating to these non-profits are housed in the
Included in Amberg's papers is the
The final grouping in the collection is the
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
Selected images from the Rob Amberg Photographs are featured on the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections website. The original library exhibit, displayed in 2009, was entitled
Consists of 127 photographs, the majority of which are 11x14 inch gelatin silver prints, although there is a small series of digital color prints. Through images of landscapes, individuals, and communities, the photographs provide an intimate, long-term look at the social, cultural, and environmental impact of the construction of an interstate highway through rural Madison County, North Carolina. The series is divided into three subseries:
Consists of 15 unmatted 8.5x11 inch color prints detailing not only I-26, but also the development of Wolf Ridge Resort in Madison County, North Carolina. Color prints made on an Epson 2400 inkjet printer with Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper and Epson pigmented inks.
Consists of 45 11x14 inch silver gelatin prints, four of which are loose, and 41 which are in 16x20 inch mats. The four loose prints were scanned and hung in the exhibit as 3x4 foot images. The prints in this subseries were exhibited at Duke University's Special Collections Gallery from January 12 through March 29, 2009 and are available on the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections website under the title of the original exhibit,
Consists of 67 unmatted 11x14 black and white prints which also document the I-26 construction through Madison County, North Carolina. These were not included in the Duke University 2009 exhibit.
Consists of 131 8x10 black and white prints. Subjects include tobacco farming and rural life in Madison County, North Carolina from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. The majority of the prints follow the lives of Dellie and Junior Norton who farmed tobacco in the county. Dellie Norton was also an accomplished folk singer. Original captions and numbering taken from back of prints.
Consists of 87 11x14 black and white prints documenting agricultural life in North Carolina, Minnesota, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Many of the images are from North Carolina and were part of an on-going assignment funded by the Rural Advancement Fund to document the rural Carolinas; others formed part of an annual report assigned and supported by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Several images document organic farmers and their activities, and one of the last African-American dairy farmers in N.C. Original captions and numbering taken from back of prints. Arranged numerically by negative number.
The smallest series within the papers, correspondence includes letters from publishers, event coordination, and donor responses.
Printed materials are arranged alphabetically. Larger collections from the same genre or publication are grouped separately. Series described at the folder level.
Series consists of non-profit organizations with which Amberg worked and supported. Series described at the folder level.
Series includes multiple manuscripts to