Inventory of the Vincent Cianni Photographs, 1983-2004

Accession (2007-0072) houses a series of 224 black and white photographic prints depicting roller blade and street culture in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, taken by Cianni during the 1990s and into 2001. Fifteen of the prints appear in Cianni's book, We Skate Hardcore: Photographs from Brooklyn's South Side (2001); and 68 prints are unpublished. Photographs are captioned and signed on the back. Also included are photographs of urban life in the Bronx, NY; and from the baby shower (Queens, NY) and wedding (Fairborn, OH) of a young couple who appear in other images from this series. Finally, the series houses the maquette for Cianni's book (version 1, 2000), and the printer's dummy (versions 2-3, 2001-2004).

Accession (2007-0200) contains 65 black and white, gelatin silver prints and photographic collages of East Berlin, the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Berlin, 1990. Prints range from 8x10 to 16x24 and are captioned and signed on back by the photographer.

Accession (2008-0048) contains prints from the Poughkeepsie Mall Series (Poughkeepsie, NY, 1980s) and the Providence House Men's Shelter Series (Newburgh, NY, 1983). Forty-four black and white photographic prints: one 5 5/8 x 8 ½; one 5 7/8 x9; and forty-two 11x14 prints. Poughkeepsie Mall series: twenty-two 11x14 prints, 1980s. Images depict youth culture, African American culture, and urban decay.

Accession (2008-0300) contains 184 prints of weddings, including some transexual weddings, taken by Cianni during the 1980s. This series includes Cianni's MFA project, Wedding Rituals, a group of twenty-four 20x24 prints and one 16x20 print. Photographs in this series are in both color and black and white; many are captioned and signed on the back by the photographer.

Accession (2008-0303) contains an additional 23 8x10 duotone and gelatin silver prints from Cianni's book We Skate Hardcore: Photographs from Brooklyn's South Side. These prints include portraits and other images of Hispanic American youth roller blade culture in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York during the mid-1990s.

Accession (2009-0243) houses forty-two black and white photographs of Muay Thai style of kickboxing competition in Siem Reap, Cambodia, 2004: thirty-six 8x10 prints and six 16x20 prints.

Finally, Accession (2010-0187) includes forty-seven 8x10 black and white gelatin silver prints from the We Skate Hardcore series. The prints are signed on verso and date 1995-2003, with bulk dates 1995-1997.

In addition, the collection contains digital video, stills, and image scans created by Vincent Cianni, all relating to his work We Skate Hardcore. Originals are closed to use. Most files have been mounted to the library server; for access to them, please contact the reference archivist.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

• African Americans--United States--Social conditions.
• Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989--Pictorial works.
• Berlin (Germany)--History--1945-1990--Pictorial works.
• Bronx (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)--Social conditions.
• Cianni, Vincent.
• Cities and towns--United States.
• Documentary photography--United States.
• Duke University. Archive of Documentary Arts.
• Germany (East)--Pictorial works.
• Hispanic Americans--New York (State).
• In-line skating--New York (City).
• Kickboxing--Cambodia.
• Martial arts--Cambodia.
• Newburgh (N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• New York State--Pictorial works.
• New York State--Social conditions.
• Poughkeepsie (N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Transgender people--United States.
• Queens (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Weddings--Pictorial works.
• Youth--United States--Social conditions.
• Photographs.
• Digital audio tapes.
• Machine readable records.
• Gelatin silver prints.
• CD-Rs.
• DVDs.

Duke University also has a copy of Vincent Cianni's book, We Skate Hardcore: Photographs from Brooklyn's South Side. Please refer to the library catalog for more information.

[Identification of item], Vincent Cianni Photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

The Vincent Cianni Photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Processed by Meghan Lyon and Katy Terrell, January 2009

Encoded by Meghan Lyon and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, February 2009

Updated by Meghan Lyon, June 2011

This collection is minimally processed: materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Accessions included in this collection: 2007-0072, 2007-0200, 2008-0048, 2008-0300, 2008-0303, 2009-0243, 2010-0187