Robert Balcomb collection
Scope and Contents
The Robert Balcomb Collection is made up of three series including Papers, Photographic materials, and Artifacts. Series one, Papers, contains correspondence, an agreement letter regarding Mortensen materials, a script for a Mortensen film, articles on Mortensen, and metalchrome and pigment process information.
Series two contains photographic materials such as “Mortensen Pigment Samples and Notes,” which are samples given to Balcomb by Myrdith Mortensen, as well as two CDs of “Mortensen Pigment Notes,” which are digital copies of original samples and annotations from Balcomb.
Series three contains a Rolleicord camera given to Balcomb by Mortensen in Laguna Beach, California, in 1956. [Note: film winder is not functional. Inscription on verso “x sync, m bulb” was written by Balcomb.]
Dates
- 1956-circa 1975
Creator
- Balcomb, Robert (Person)
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
Robert “Sam” Balcomb (1926-2021) was an artist and portrait photographer who has practiced portrait photography since the mid-1950s. He graduated from the American Academy of Art, Chicago, received his Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of New Mexico, and received his Master of Arts in Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Balcomb was employed by Olympic College in Bremerton, WA specializing in English grammar, technical writing, and public speaking. He was well-known for having studied under William Mortensen from 1956-1957, learning the photographic processes employed by Mortensen and using them in his own photography. Balcomb wrote the book Me and Mortensen: Photography with the Master, published in 2013. This book is written from his point of view as a student of Mortensen and draws conversations with Mortensen’s widow after his death in 1965.
Extent
3 Linear Feet
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Abstract
Papers, technical notes, and photographs of Robert “Sam” Balcomb (b. 11 March 1926), photographer and student of William Mortensen from 1956-1957. Photographs were transferred to the CCP fine print collection.
Arrangement
The Collection is arranged into the following series:
- Series 1: Papers, undated, 1956-circa 1975, 1 box
- Series 2: Photographic materials, undated, 3 boxes
- Series 3: Artifacts, undated, 1 box
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert Balcomb in 2000 and 2003.
Bibliography
About.
Robert Balcomb Photography. www.robertbalcombphotography.com/about.html. Accessed 22 June 2020.
Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid updated in June 2016 by Meghan Jordan in June 2016. Finding aid was again updated by Tai Huesgen in June 2020.
- Mortensen, William, 1897-1965
- Pictorialism (Photography movement) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Robert Balcomb collection 1956-circa 1975
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by CCP Archives Staff
- Date
- © 2020
- 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
