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Rosalind Solomon archive

 Collection
Identifier: AG 208

Scope and Contents

Series one, Correspondence, is divided into chronological correspondence, selected correspondence, and family correspondence subseries. The vast majority of the correspondence arranged in chronological order has not been processed, and may contain correspondence from family, galleries or other parties represented in selected and family correspondence. Within selected correspondence, there are letters and faxes written to and from Rosalind Solomon. There are also documents such as consignment agreements from other institutions and new articles.

Series two, Biographical Materials, includes materials related to Rosalind Solomon’s personal life, such as appointment calendars, chronologies, biographies, school records, household records, personal notes, legal documents, awards and volunteer activities. Some materials within this series may be restricted.

Series three, Activity Files, includes writings by Solomon and others, materials related to workshops, lectures, grants, and fellowships, artist residencies, research materials, and Experiment in International Living materials.

Series four, Exhibitions, contains catalogs, photographs, lists of photos, notices, contracts, correspondence, and other material related to exhibitions of Solomon’s work. Also see correspondence with various galleries and museums, as well as financial records for consignment agreements. See oversized materials for Solomon’s exhibition catalog for “Earthrites.”

Series five, Travel Files, includes correspondence, memoranda, itineraries, expenses, and other materials related to Solomon’s travels.

Series six, Project Files, includes materials surrounding the various projects of Solomon, including ideas, proposals, notes, and other records.

Series seven, Publications and Clippings, contains monographs, periodicals, and clippings written by Solomon or about her activities. See oversized materials for Solomon’s scrapbook.

Series eight, Business Records, includes consignment forms, release forms, inventories, studio and printmaking information, legal documents, and financial records.

Series nine, Audiovisual Materials, includes motion picture film reels, VHS tapes, and DVDs of Solomon’s projects.

Series ten, Photographic Materials, includes negatives, slides, prints, snapshots, photo albums, and other photographic materials from both Solomon’s career and personal life.

Series eleven, Oversized and Other Materials, contains Solomon’s scrapbook of clippings, exhibition catalogs, and photographs.

Dates

  • circa 1940s-2013

Creator

Language of Materials

Material in English

Conditions Governing Access

To access materials from this collection, please contact CCP-RefDesk@email.arizona.edu

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission from the copyright owner (which could be the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates or literary executors) prior to any copyright-protected uses of the collection.

The user agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona, Center of Creative Photography, including its officers, employees, and agents, from and against all claims made relating to copyright or other intellectual property infringement

Biographical Note

Rosalind Fox was born April 2, 1930 in Highland Park, Illinois. She graduated from Goucher College in 1951, then traveled to Belgium and France with The Experiment in International Living. In 1953, she married Jay Solomon and moved to Chattanooga, TN, and soon after they had two children (they later divorced in 1984). Solomon was the Regional Director of The Experiment in International Living and recruited host families throughout the southern United States to receive international guests. In 1962, Solomon and her family traveled to Chile as part of The Experiment in International Living. Between 1963-1965, Solomon worked as an Equal Employment Recruiter for the Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State. From the 1960s onward, Solomon traveled to Mexico, Tokyo, Israel, India, Nepal, Portugal, Indonesia, Australia, Peru, and several other countries.

While in Tokyo, Solomon used Kodak Instamatic and made color slides, and ultimately decided to become a photographer. She soon after purchased a Nikkormat and set up a home darkroom to process black-and-white photographs. In 1970, Solomon held her first solo exhibition. In 1974, Solomon studied with Lisette Model during visits to New York City. During this time, Solomon began to photograph damaged dolls, as well as people, at a monthly market in Scottsboro, Alabama. In 1975, she started to use a Mamiya 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ inch camera to photograph patients in Chattanooga as well as Sicily and Mexico. One of Solomon’s first exhibited photographs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York evolved from her Sicily trip.

In 1979, Solomon received a Guggenheim fellowship and moved to New York City. Solomon also created the portfolio, Washington Collages, with five copies published. In 1980, Solomon’s portfolio, Carnival Album, edition of 4 albums was published. Shortly after, Solomon returned to Peru and photographed as well as started making audiovisual recordings on super 8 film. Between 1981 and 1983, the American Institute of Indian Studies awarded Solomon a fellowship to photograph Indian festivals.

Through the mid to late 1980s, Solomon worked consistently on her photography projects: she produced two installation pieces, Adiós and Catacombs; took a series of NYC street portraits and portraits outside of Buddhist temples in Nepal; had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; and started her AIDS project.

In 1988, the Grey Art Gallery at New York University exhibited Solomon’s AIDS photographs and published a catalog, Portraits in the Time of AIDS. The same year, Solomon received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support her work in South Africa and Ireland. Over the next two years, Solomon continued to travel around the world for her photography projects.

Between 1992 and 1994, Solomon lived part-time in New Orleans to photograph musicians and festivals. Over the next decade, she continued to travel to South Africa, Peru, Tibet, India, Nepal, Israel, Jordan, and Italy. In 1998, Solomon finished the video project, To Highlands. In 2003, Solomon published the monograph Chapalingas, a retrospective of the years 1975-2001, and in 2006, she published the monograph Polish Shadows.

To date, Solomon continues to show in group and solo exhibitions. In 2016, Solomon was honored with the Lucie Award in the Achievement in Portraiture category.

Extent

67 Boxes (80 linear feet)

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

Abstract

Papers, photographic materials, and memorabilia of photographer Rosalind Fox Solomon (1930- ). Materials include correspondence, biographical materials, activity files, exhibitions, travel files, project files, publications and clippings, business records, as well as audiovisual and photographic materials. The collection actively receives materials on a periodic basis.

Arrangement

The Collection is arranged into the following series:

Arrangement

  1. Series 1: Correspondence, 1951-2006, 11 boxes
  2. Series 2: Biographical Materials, 1938-2007, 9 boxes
  3. Series 3: Activity Files, 1962-2002, 3 boxes
  4. Series 4: Exhibitions, 1969-2006, 3 boxes
  5. Series 5: Travel Files, 1961-2000, 4 boxes
  6. Series 6: Project Files, 1975-2006, 5 boxes
  7. Series 7: Publications and Clippings, 1951-2006, 15 boxes
  8. Series 8: Business Records, 1972-2004, 4 boxes
  9. Series 9: Audiovisual Materials, n.d., 1974-2010, 8 boxes
  10. Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1940s-2004, 6 boxes
  11. Series 11: Oversized Materials, 1945-1966, 5 boxes

Custodial History

Gift of the artist beginning in 2007.

Accruals

Accruals received in 2009 and 2013. Some materials have not been fully processed and integrated into the collection. Unprocessed materials are located in boxes 63, 65, 66, and 67. Please see archivist for details.

Related Materials

Rosalind Solomon’s photographs can be found at the Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Additionally, an interview was conducted with Rosalind Fox Solomon in 2016 by Linda Yablonsky, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Solomon's home and studio in New York, New York, and can be accessed through the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Separated Materials

The Center began acquiring fine print photographs by Solomon in 1989. The Fine Print Collection holds over 1,000 photographs by Solomon. Requests to view fine print materials require a six-week notice in advance.

Processing Information

Finding aid updated by Alexis Peregoy in 2018.

Title
Rosalind Solomon archive circa 1940s-2013
Author
Finding aid created by CCP Archives Staff
Date
© 2019
Description rules
Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard)
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English

Repository Details

Part of the Center for Creative Photography Archives Repository

Contact:
1030 N. Olive RD
Tucson Arizona 85721 United States