Inventory of the William Gedney Photographs and Writings, 1940s-1989

The William Gedney Photographs and Writings collection spans the 1940s to 1989 and includes negatives, contact sheets, proofs, prints, slides, indexes, handmade illustrated books, journals and diaries, and photographer's notebooks. The collection primarily documents Gedney's work as a photographer over several decades before his early death in 1989. The photographs document life in the United States, particularly in New York, rural Kentucky, and San Francisco; life in India, primarily in Benares and Calcutta; urban and rural landscapes across the United States; and American composers. Two themes in Gedney's oeuvre are his "Night" series and nudes. The "Night" series was created throughout most of Gedney's career and spanned all geographic locations. The nudes were primarily photographed at the Pratt Institute where Gedney taught. A body of handmade books in the collection were designed and made by Gedney and are illustrated with his photographic prints. More than half of the collection's series house photographic materials, and include the Negatives, Contact Sheets, Proofs, Prints, Film Development Tests, and Slides (transparencies) Series. Since the collection follows Gedney's arrangement by photograph formats, not subjects, images of most subjects are scattered throughout all of the series in the collection. Other formats are represented in the Indexes, Writings and Notebooks, Miscellaneous, Print Material, and Book Projects Series.

A predominant subject in the collection, one that appears in most of the series, is New York, especially Brooklyn. Subjects, both in Brooklyn and elsewhere in metropolitan New York, include religious festivals, such as the Italian-American feast of San Gennaro, Sunday School parades, first communion parades, and Good Friday processions; gospel revivals; the Washington Market; a bar named O'Rourks; the Brooklyn Bridge; Coney Island; the subway and "the El"; St. Joseph's School for the Deaf; crowds; the Salvation Army; and Myrtle Ave. Gedney lived on Myrtle Ave., and many of his New York street scenes were made there. Gay rallies and marches in New York City were photographed, and the dates of these events usually coincide with the anniversary dates of the Stonewall riots. Other events Gedney photographed include car shows, flower shows, and body building exhibitions. There are photographs of Diane Arbus, a photographer, at the body building exhibitions. The "Farm," which Gedney photographed, was located in Norton Hill, N.Y. Gedney also photographed in Rochester, Albany, and Greenville, N.Y. Photographs of friends and family, as well of Gedney, are scattered throughout the collection. His notebooks and writings also document life in New York; some of them are titled "Myrtle Avenue."

Among Gedney's other American subjects are 100 composers who were photographed between 1965 and 1969. The composer series forms a significant body of work, although the photographs are scattered throughout the collection. A partial list of the composers is in the collection's Information Folder in the inventory drawer. The San Francisco photographic work, also a substantive series, focused on hippies and youth from 1966 to 1967. Another significant body of American work in the collection is Gedney's extensive photographic studies of rural Eastern Kentucky in 1964 and 1972. The Couch family in Leatherwood, Ky., and the Cornett family in Big Rock, Ky., were the central characters in his photography: The Kentucky works were created in the Blue Diamond Mining Company camp, Grassy Branch Holler, Two Forks Holler, and in Hazard.

Gedney made one or two trips across the United States by car during the years 1965 to 1967. During the trip(s) he photographed "Night" scenes in various towns. He also photographed Indian reservations, a monastery, farm workers, and various cities, forming the "Cross Country" series. One of six photographers hired to document the work of the Social Security Administration in 1968, Gedney was assigned to the Hays, Kansas, bureau. Kansas subjects include the Norton County Hospital, Hadley Hospital, Social Security client interviews, and Fort Hays College.

Gedney produced a large corpus of photographs of India. Indian subjects include wall paintings; ritual wrestlers; temple scenes and activities; bathing in the Ganges; festivals such as Holi; a Krishna festival; a monkey temple festival; Yantra and Shiva pujas; a wedding; street scenes; actors, acrobats, and other entertainers; artisans, such as painters, sculptors, and photographers; merchants and markets; and religious men. The Slides Series primarily includes the Indian wall paintings, which were created by the Kumbhar caste. The slides are the only color photographs in the collection. Other subjects or locations photographed by Gedney include England, Ireland, and Paris.

The Exhibit Prints subseries of the Prints Series houses a collection of 11x14 prints in 16x20 mats, byproducts of the 2000 retrospective exhibition in San Francisco.

The Indexes Series consists of small prints attached to 5x7 cards or to 8.5x11 sheets that contain notes about the subject and printing specifications. They appear to have been created by Gedney to serve as references to his prints.

The Writings and Notebooks Series is a source for information about Gedney's interests; his personal reflections, including his thoughts about the subjects he was photographing; and technical information about his camera and darkroom procedures. Gedney copied quotes and kept clippings about subjects in which he was interested, and often photographing, in handmade notebooks. Different notebooks dating from the same period often complement each other, one giving a more diary-like account and the other more factual information.

Accession (1998-0508) (7 boxes, 1 oversize folder) consists chiefly of William Gedney's personal papers, which include: medical papers, financial and legal papers, correspondence, grants and work related files, writings and notebooks, sketches, and paintings.

Accession (1997-0061) includes seven 10" x 16" copy prints of images by Gedney printed by Julie Stovall of the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies from negatives in the collection.

Accession (1998-0197) (1 box, dated 1950s-1970s) contains handmade scrapbooks, photographs, and book dummies.

Accession (1998-0282)(interfiled in box 116) contains legal papers, including a copy of Gedney's will and other documents and correspondence related to the settlement of his estate.

Accession (1998-0345) (1 box, dated 1986-1987) contains one large black and white photograph of Gedney and his dog by Lee Friedlander; and one illustrated, humorous thank-you letter from Gedney to Mr. and Mrs. Friedlander.

Accession (1999-0124) (1 box, dated 1970-1971) contains photocopies of letters from Gedney to Lili Fabilli Osborne, written from India (1970-1971) and New York (undated), together with 1998 cover letters from Osborne to Sandra Phillips and Maria Friedlander.

• Gedney, William, d. 1989
• Art and photography--United States.
• Art and photography--India.
• Art and photography--New York (N.Y.).
• Bookbinding.
• Composers--United States--Pictorial works.
• Documentary photography--India.
• Documentary photography--Kentucky.
• Documentary photography--New York (N.Y.).
• Documentary photography--United States.
• Gays--New York (N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Hippies--California--San Francisco----Pictorial works.
• Photographers--Diaries.
• Photography--United States.
• Photography of the nude.
• Benares (India)--Pictorial works.
• Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Calcutta (India)--Pictorial works.
• Kentucky--Pictorial works.
• Myrtle Avenue (New York, N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• New York (N.Y.)--Pictorial works.
• Artists' books.
• Diaries.
• Negatives.
• Photographs.

The William Gedney Photographs and Writings was a gift from Richard T. Gedney and Lee Friedlander to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library in 1992.

Processed by: Donna Longo DiMichele and Phoebe A. Evans

Completed July 26, 1994

Encoded by Stephen D. Miller

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.