Special Collections' exceptionally strong photographic collections began with a gift in the late 1960s of Edward Weston's project prints. The photographic collections, now numbering close to half a million items, have continued to grow through the acquisition and archival gifts of works by important contemporary photographers working in both the documentary and fine art tradition.
Selected photographers whose work is represented in Special Collections include:
- Ansel Adams. Holdings include several hundred UCSC views, representation from theFiat Lux series, and several individual prints.
- Morley Baer. Includes photographs of California landscape, vernacular buildings, and architecture by nationally known architects.
- Ruth-Marion Baruch. Includes photographs relating to 1960s San Francisco Bay Area, documentation on Haight-Ashbury, and the Black Panther Party.
- Pirkle Jones. Includes photographs documenting California towns and their residents. Jones was known for collaborative photographic projects with Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Ruth-Marion Baruch.
- Erik Lauritzen. Includes fine art photography, abstractions, landscape of the American West.
- Brett Weston. Includes fine art photography, landscape of Central California coast and Mexico, and abstractions.
- Wynn Bullock. Master mid twentieth century photographer; work includes landscapes and views of Central California coastal areas, figurative work, and color light abstractions.
- Edna Bullock. Includes fine art photography with emphasis on work in the figurative tradition.
- Verna Johnston. Studies of nature, animals, and landscape in the American West are included.
- Branson DeCou. Documentary photography, travel views from five continents in first half of 20th Century make up this large collection; includes over 10,000 hand painted lantern slides. Also, see our digitized Branson DeCou slides.
A small number of works demonstrating the evolution of photographic formats from daguerreotypes to digital prints are also collected.
