Scope and Contents
The collection documents the life and career of American photographer Robert Adams, including photographs, correspondence, clippings, writings, posters, printed material, born digital material, and audiovisual material. Photographs include landscape photographs throughout the western United States, portraits, family photographs, and photographs of Adams’s exhibitions at galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad. Also present are posters for Adams’s exhibitions, reviews of his books and exhibitions, some of his early writings, and his art, primarily drawings.
Dates
- circa 1880-2018
- Majority of material found within 1950 - 2018
Creator
Language of Materials
Chiefly in English. Some materials in German.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Box 20 (digital media) and Boxes 21-22 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 16-19 (alphabetical files): Restricted until 5 years after the deaths of Robert Adams and Kerstin Adams. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Box 20 (digital media) and Boxes 21-22 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 16-19 (alphabetical files): Restricted until 5 years after the deaths of Robert Adams and Kerstin Adams. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Conditions Governing Use
The Robert Adams Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert Adams, 2018.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series: I. Photographs, circa 1880-2013. II. Exhibitions, circa 1971-2017. III. Reviews and Press, circa 1970-2018. IV. Early Writings, 1959-1972. V. Artwork, circa 1960-2006. VI. Restricted Papers. VII. Computer and Audiovisual Media.
Extent
14.14 Linear Feet ((18 boxes) + 4 broadside)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Biographical / Historical
Robert Adams (1937- ) is an American photographer whose work focuses on the changing landscape of the American West. Adams was born in New Jersey to Ross Adams and Lois Hickman Adams. He received his B.A. in English from Redlands University in 1959 and Ph.D. from University of Southern California in 1965. Adams married Kerstin Mornestam in 1960. He began taking photographs while teaching at Colorado College in 1963, and became a full-time photographer in 1970. Adams has published over 40 photography books and his photography has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad.
Separated Materials
Printed material received with the collection was removed for separate cataloging and can be accessed by searching the library's online catalog.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Processing Information
5 boxes of publications were transferred to Yale University Art Gallery in 2019.
- Adams, Kerstin
- Adams, Robert, 1937-
- Arizona -- Pictorial works
- Audiovisual materials
- Born digital
- Colorado -- Pictorial works
- Drawings (visual works)
- Hickman, C. A.
- Landscape photography -- United States
- Landscape photography -- West (U.S.) -- Pictorial works
- Montana -- Pictorial works
- New Mexico -- Pictorial works
- Oregon -- Pictorial works
- Photographers -- United States -- 20th Century
- Photographers -- United States -- Archives
- Photographs
- Photography -- Exhibitions
- Posters
- West (U.S.) -- In art
- West (U.S.) -- Pictorial works
- Title
- Guide to the Robert Adams Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Stephanie Bredbenner
- Date
- 2021 March
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.