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Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995

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Descriptive Summary
Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Restrictions
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Administrative Information
Container List
Series I. Book projects, 1963-1995
Series II. Other photographs, 1951-1995, bulk 1988-1995
Series III. Papers, 1958-1995
Swann (Wim) photograph collection

Container List

Series I. Book projects, 1963-1995 circa 42 linear feet
Series I contains a nearly complete set of photographs for Swaan's entire book production, consisting of 18 publications, four unfinished projects, and one project in progress at the time of his death. Most projects contain black-and-white prints, color transparencies and slides, black-and-white contact prints, and black-and-white negatives. Additionally, a small number of projects include Swaan's notes, and the files for the book Japanese lantern include the manuscript draft.
Arrangement note
Projects are arranged chronologically by publication date. Within individual boxes, photographic materials used for publication are arranged in plate number order; materials not used for publication and contact sheets are generally arranged geographically.
Mecca the Blessed, Madinah the Radiant, 1963
Swaan was not the principal photographer for this book.
box folder
1 1 Black-and-white photographs used for publication plates
box folder
67 1 Color transparencies used for publication plates
Moorish Spain, 1963
Black-and-white images
box folder
1 2-3 Photographs used for publication plates
1 4 Photographs used in publication (non-plates)
Photographs not used in publication
box folder
1 5 Cordoba
1 6 Seville
box
1-2 Granada
box folder
2 2-3 Unidentified locations
2-3 Contact prints
box
67-68 Negatives
Color images
box folder
67 2 Transparencies used for publication plates
67 3 Transparencies not used in publication
Constantinople from Byzantium to Istanbul, 1965
Black-and-white images
box folder
4 1-2 Photographs used for publication plates
4 3-4 Photographs not used in publication
4 5 Contact prints
Color images
box folder
68 2 Transparencies used for publication plates
68 3 Duplicates of transparencies
Japanese Lantern, 1965
Black-and-white images
box folder
4 6 Photographs used for publication plates
box
4-5 Photographs not used in publication
box folder
5 6 Contact prints
Includes one sheet of contact prints labeled "Philippines".
box
69-70 Color slides
box
53-54 Manuscript draft
Contains many ink drawings.
Thebes of the Pharaohs, 1965
box folder
6 1 Notebook
Black-and-white images
box folder
6 2-3 Photographs used for publication plates
box
6-7 Photographs not used in publication
box folder
7 3-6 Contact prints
box
72 Negatives
Color images
box folder
71 1 Transparencies used for publication plates
71 2 Transparencies and slides not used in publication
Isfahan, Pearl of Persia, 1966
Black-and-white images
box folder
8 1-2 Photographs used for publication plates
8 3 Photographs of objects in museum collections
8 4-5 Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
8 6 Contact prints
Images of Afghanistan, Iran, Damascus (Syria), and Egypt.
box folder
73 3 Negatives
Color images
box folder
73 1 Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
73 2 Transparencies of objects in museum collections
Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor 1966
Selected digitized images from Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor: 1966

Production materials for the publication Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the ancient art and architecture of present-day Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia and Thailand. Unpublished images also include content that falls outside the scope of the subject of the publication, such as the Grand Palace in Bangkok and wooden houses in rural areas of Thailand.
box folder
9 1-2 Notes and bibliography
Black-and-white images
box folder
9 3 Photographs used for publication plates
9 4 Photographs used in publication (non-plates)
Photographs not used in publication
box folder
9 5 Ceylon
9 6-7 Burma
box folder
10 1-2 Cambodia
10 3-5 Contact prints
box folder
74 2 Negatives
Color images
box folder
73 4 Slides and transparencies used for publication plates
box folder
74 1 Slides not used in publication
Age of Plantagenet and Valois, 1967
Swaan was not the only photographer for this project.
Black-and-white images
box folder
11 1 Photographs used for publication plates
11 2 Photographs not used in publication
box folder
26 1-5 Contact prints
Filed with contact prints for Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance (1970).
box
90 Negatives
Filed with black-and-white negatives for Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance (1970).
box folder
74 3 Color transparencies used for publication plates
Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat, 1967
Selected digitized images from Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat: 1967

Production materials for the publication Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the art and architecture of Morocco. Unpublished images also include views of cities not listed in the publication title, such as Salé, Rissani and Meknès.
Black-and-white images
box folder
11 3-4 Photographs used for publications plates
11 5-6 Photographs not used in publication
box folder
76 1 Polaroids
box folder
12 1-2 Contact prints
box folder
76 2 Negatives
Color images
box folder
75 1 Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
75 2-3 Transparencies and slides not used in publication and duplicates
Tibet, 1967
Black-and-white images
box folder
12 3 Photographs used for publication plates
12 4 Photographs not used in publication
12 5 Contact prints
box folder
77 3 Negatives
Color images
box folder
77 1 Transparencies used for publication plates
77 2 Transparencies and slides not used in publication and duplicates
Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, 1968
Selected digitized images from Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri,: 1968

Production materials for the publication Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the art and architecture of the Mughal periods in India. Unpublished images also include content that falls outside the scope of the subject of the publication, such as government buildings in New Delhi and buildings designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in Chandīgarh.
Black-and-white images
box folder
12 6-7 Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box folder
13 1-2 Delhi
13 3-4 Agra
13 5 Fatehpur Sikri
13 6 Other locations
box folder
14 1 Photographs of objects in museum collections
14 2 Contact prints
box folder
78 2 Negatives
Color images
box folder
77 4 Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
box
77-78 Transparencies, slides and prints not used in publication
Flemish Cities, Their History and Art, 1969
Swaan is credited as the primary photographer for this book, but it also contains many images by others.
Black-and-white images
box folder
14 3 Photographs used for publication plates
14 4-5 Photographs not used in publication
14 6 Contact prints
box folder
79 2 Negatives
79 1 Color transparencies
Gothic Cathedral, 1969
box folder
15 1-2 Notes
Includes handcopied excerpts from texts on Gothic architecture.
Black-and-white images
box
15-16 Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box folder
17 1-3 France
17 4-5 England
17 6 Germany and Austria
box folder
18 1 Spain
18 2 Italy
18 3 Unidentified locations
box
148** Oversize photographs
Contact prints
box
18-19 France
box folder
19 2-4 England
box
19-20 Germany, Spain and Italy
box
81-85 Negatives
Color images
box folder
79 3 Transparencies used for publication plates
Transparencies not used in publication and duplicates
box
79-80 France
box folder
80 2 England
80 3 Germany and Austria
80 4 Spain
80 5 Italy
80 6 Unidentified
Medici: A Great Florentine Family, 1969
Black-and-white images
box folder
20 4-5 Photographs used for publication plates
box
21-22 Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box folder
22 2-4 Contact prints
box
85-86 Negatives
Color images
box folder
85 2 Transparencies used for publication prints
85 3 Transparencies not used in publication
Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance, 1970
Black-and-white images
box
22-23 Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box
23-24 France
box folder
24 2-3 Belgium, Holland and Britain
24 4-5 Spain
box folder
25 1 Germany, Austria and Switzerland
25 2 Portugal and Czechoslovakia
25 3-4 Italy and Turkey
25 5-6 Duplicates of photographs
box folder
90 2 Polaroids
box folder
26 1-5 Contact prints
box
88-90 Negatives
Color images
box folder
87 1 Transparencies used for publication plates
87 2 Transparencies not used in publication
Monastic World, 1974
The repository does not have any of the the images used for color publication plates for this project. Color plates lost by Granada Publishing. See Moira Johnston files in Series III for letter dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.
Black-and-white images
box
27-29 Photographs used for publication plates
Includes some alternate images.
box
29-30 Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box
30-31 Contact prints
box
91, 93-94 Negatives
Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
box folder
91 1 Color transparencies not used in publication
box folder
30 6 Handwritten index of publication plates
Late Middle Ages, 1977
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project. See Moira Johnston files in Series III for letter dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.
Black-and-white images
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box folder
31 2-4 England
box
31-32 France
box folder
32 3 Netherlands
32 4-6 Germany and Austria
box folder
33 1-3 Spain
33 4-5 Portugal
33 6 Italy
This country does not appear in the publication.
33 7-8 Unidentified locations
box
34-35 Contact prints
box
91, 93-94 Negatives
Some black-and-white negatives filed with those from Monastic World in Box 91. Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
box
92 Color transparencies not used in publication
Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration, 1978
Black-and-white images
box
35-36 Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box folder
36 4-5 Italy
box folder
37 1 France
37 2 England
37 3-4 Central and Eastern Europe
37 5 Iberian Peninsula
Duplicates of photographs
box
37-38 Italy
box folder
38 2 France
38 3 England
38 4 Central and Eastern Europe
38 5 Iberian Peninsula
38 6 Unidentified locations
box
38-39 Contact prints
box
93-94, 96-97 Negatives
Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects: Monastic World, Late Middle Ages, and Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
Color images
box
95 Transparencies used for publication plates
95 Transparencies not used in publication
Lost Civilizations of America, circa 1977-1981
Materials related to an unfinished project.
box folder
39 3 Notes and photocopies of articles
Black-and-white images
box folder
39 4 Photographs
Contact prints
box folder
39 5 Mexico
39 6 Guatemala
39 7 Honduras
39 8 Colombia
39 9 Peru
39 10 Bolivia
box
150 Negatives
box
98-99, 149 Color transparencies and slides
Spanish Colonial Baroque in America, circa 1978-1981
Materials related to an unfinished project. Locations visited and photographed by Swaan include Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras and the United States.
box folder
40 1-8 Notes, photocopies of articles and shot lists
Black-and-white images
box
40-42 Photographs
box
42-44, 101-102 Contact prints
box
104-105 Negatives
box
100-103 Color transparencies and slides
Hellenistic Art and Architecture, circa 1978
Materials related to an unfinished project.
box folder
44 4 Notes and shot lists
Black-and-white images
box
44-45 Photographs
box folder
45 4 Duplicates of photographs
box folder
46 1-3 Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints
box folder
106 2 Negatives
106 1 Color transparencies
Persepolis and Susa, circa 1970s
Materials related to an unfinished project.
Black-and-white images
box folder
46 4-6 Photographs
Contact prints
box folder
8 6 Iran
Filed with contact prints for Isfahan, Pearl of Persia.
box folder
46 7 Museum objects at the Louvre
box folder
106 4 Negatives
106 3 Color transparencies and slides
Oxford and Cambridge, 1988
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project.
box folder
47 1-2 Correspondence
47 3-6 Notes and photocopies of articles
Black-and-white images
box folder
48 1-2 Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box
48-49 Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints
box
107-108 Negatives
box folder
107 1 Color transparencies not used in publication and duplicates
Art and Architecture of Nepal, circa 1995
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for publication plates for this project. This project was in process at the time of Swaan's death.
box folder
49 5-6 Correspondence
Black-and-white images
box
50-51 Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box
51-52 Contact prints
box
110-111 Negatives
box
109-110 Color transparencies and slides
box
55 Book jackets
Many clipped.
Series II. Other photographs, 1951-1995, bulk 1988-1995 14.5 Linear Feet
Series II contains photographs not published in book format by Swaan of various geographical regions. Coverage is extensive for Islamic Turkey and Egypt, Ancient Egypt, India, Pakistan, the landscape of the American West, and stained glass. Some images of sites in Turkey, Egypt and India duplicate those in Series I, which Swaan shot approximately twenty five years earlier. Most images are represented only in color transparencies and slides, and do not exist in printed form. A number of images were held at photo stockhouses for commercial sale.
Arrangement note
Materials are arranged by photographic campaign in rough chronological order.
Photographic experiments, circa 1964
Materials documenting Swaan's experimentation with different techniques. Primarily photographs taken in and around Swaan's first New York apartment in 1964.
box folder
59 1 Notes
Black-and-white images
box
56-59 Photographs
Versos of many of the prints contain Swaan's annotations.
box
112 Polaroids
112 Negatives
112 Color slides and transparencies
box folder
59 2 Europe, 1951-1952
Black-and-white contact prints.
South Africa, circa late 1950s
Images of early paintings and architecture, people types, landscape views, buildings, and animals from various regions.
Black-and-white images
box folder
59 3 Contact prints
box
113 Negatives
113 Color slides
Greece (Acropolis), circa early 1960s
All images are black-and-white.
box folder
59 4 Photographs
59 5 Contact prints
Noted on many of the sheets: "Negatives with Gordon Bishop".
New York, and Wyndover Woods, circa 1964
All images are black-and-white. Includes images of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Flatiron Building.
box folder
59 6 Photographs
59 6 Contact prints
59 6 Polaroids
box
142 Negatives
box folder
59 7 Portugal, circa 1960s
Black-and-white contact prints.
Miscellaneous, undated
Includes images of objects from the Marjorie Merriweather Post Russian Collection, and of various locations in Europe, the Near East and the Far East.
Black-and-white images
box folder
59 8-10 Photographs
59 8-10 Contact prints
box
114 Negatives
114 Color slides and transparencies
India, 1988
Black-and-white images
box folder
60 3 Photographs of Khajuraho
box
60, 118-121 Contact prints
box
110-111 Negatives
Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for Art and Architecture of Nepal. See Series I, Boxes 110-111.
box
118-122 Color transparencies and slides
Includes images of Agra, Sikandra, Fatehpur Sikri, Baria, Ajmer, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Mt. Abu, Khajuraho, Delhi.
Pakistan, 1988
Black-and-white images
box
60, 117 Contact prints
box
110-111 Negatives
Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for Art and Architecture of Nepal. See Series I, Boxes 110-111.
box
117, 122 Color transparencies and slides
Egypt, Yemen, Damascus, 1990
Black-and-white images
box folder
60 5 Photographs
box
60, 123-127 Contact prints
box
130 Negatives
box
123-129 Color transparencies and slides
Boxes 128-129 contain mostly color slides of Islamic Egypt returned from the FPG [Freelance Photographers Guild].
Turkey, 1992
Black-and-white images
box folder
60 7-8 Photographs
box
61, 131-135 Contact prints
box
138-139 Negatives
Includes some negatives from 1962.
Color transparencies and slides
box
131-133, 136-137 West cities
box
134-137 East cities
box folder
61 3-4 Uncontracted and non-book photographs, undated
Mix of all styles and periods.
61 5-7 Contact prints not for Elek, 1968-1969, 1971-1972
Mix of all styles and periods.
box
115-116 Stained glass, 1986
Color slides and transparencies.
box folder
140 1 England, 1994
Color slides.
box
140-141 Italy, 1994-1995
Color slides and some black-and-white negatives and contact prints. Swaan's last photo expedition.
American landscape 1975-1995
Mostly color slides and transparencies, with some black-and-white contact prints and black-and-white negatives throughout.
box
142 Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico, 1975-1976
142 New Orleans plantation houses, 1977
142 New Mexico and Arizona, 1980, 1995
box
143 Yellowstone and the Tetons, 1982
143 Oregon and Colorado, 1983-1985
box
144 Grand Canyon, 1984
144 Alaska, Vancouver and Puget Sound, 1984
144 Death Valley and Southern States, undated
Includes images of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.
box
145 New York, 1977-1993
145 Colorado and California, 1982
box
146 California, 1987-1988
box
147 Various places in the Eastern United States, 1988-1989
Includes images of New York, Washington (D.C.), Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and specifically Philadelphia, University of Virginia, Monticello, Station St. Louis, and Amish Country.
147 Southwest tour, 1991
147 Quebec City, 1994
Series III. Papers, 1958-1995 3 Linear Feet
Series III comprises correspondence, invoices, and permission requests for sales and book projects. The letters between Swaan (photocopies) and his London agent are interspersed with personal information. Also included are authorizations from governments and cultural institutions for Swaan to photograph locations abroad, some notes and the original copy of his two volume thesis.
Arrangement note
Materials are arranged by topic.
Camera Press Ltd. (represented Swaan's production that was not handled by Elek), 1966-1995
Correspondence and sales statements.
box folder
62 1 1966-1976
62 2 1976-1984
62 3 1984-1995
Moira Johnston (Swaan's London agent from 1981-1995 for photos in Elek books), 1977-1994
Correspondence, mostly business but some personal, contracts, sales statements.
box folder
62 4 1977-1980
62 5 1980-1983
62 6 1984-1987
62 7 1987-1994
box folder
63 1-2 FPG (Freelance Photographers Guild) International, 1984-1995
Lists of submitted photos, sales statements and correspondence.
63 3 Les Editions Réalités, 1970
Mostly correspondence.
63 4 Cornell University Press/Harper & Row, 1977-1981
Mostly invoices for book sales to Swaan.
Miscellaneous inquiries, 1968-1995
Correspondence concerning reproductions and permission to publish.
box folder
63 5-7 1968-1991
box folder
64 1-3 1991-1995
64 4 Miscellaneous financial documents, 1976-1979, 1987
Includes expense accounts for various trips, a letter related to preparing taxes for 1976, and income from photography for the 1987 tax year.
64 5 Bibliography and reviews
64 6 Authorizations (used)
Correspondence that gives Swaan permission to photograph various sites.
64 7 Letters from Japan, 1960
64 8 "The Armor of Light," 1984-1985
Correspondence with Meredith Lillich about a proposed book on stained glass. See Series II, Boxes 115-116 for related color slides and transparencies.
64 9 Latent Image (periodical), 1991-1992
Notes.
64 10 Working notebook, undated
64 11 Notes, undated
Handwritten translations of French phrases.
box
65-66 Master's thesis, 1958
"Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic housing for the lower-income groups with special reference to housing European families with children in South Africa". Submitted to the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, October 1958. 2 volumes.
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