Ben Rose collection

This collection was given to the Center after Rose's death in 1980. The bulk of the material consists of photographs, negatives, and slides, with only small amounts documenting Rose's personal life, professional studios, exhibitions, and experiments. With the exception of slides and negatives, the collection was largely unorganized on receipt. Material was sorted and the following series assigned:

Series one: Activity files, circa 1940-1980. Contains correspondence on and calculations for a project on photographing the phases of the Moon; computer print-outs and study prints documenting photographic assignments; a typed, final draft of a home study course in photography offered by Creative Photographers Association (New York); a list of awards given to Rose; and announcements for his exhibitions and studio openings. There is no personal or professional correspondence. Office files, lecture notes, teaching and research files which may have documented his career in advertising, experience with multiple and computer imagery, and photographic experiments are also missing.

Series two: Publications and tearsheets, circa 1940-1980. Contains printed materials by or about Rose, mostly from the 1970s. Also included are photographs, including some record covers, by Rose for such clients as Hiram Walker Imperial Whiskey, Reed and Barton, National Dairy Products Corporation, Esquire, Honeywell, and Playboy. There are articles profiling Rose and his imagery, but none containing a comprehensive biographical portrait of him.

Series three: Photographs, circa 1940-1970s. Contains approximately 346 black-and-white and 194 color prints. Subjects include advertising assignments and multiple image experiments. Matted prints have been separated from unmatted ones; few prints are identified or dated. Some photographs will eventually be transferred to the Center's Fine Print Collection. There is also about 2,400 Polaroid prints, ca.1970s, probably used by Rose as studies for his commercial assignments and photographic experiments.

Series four: Negatives, contact sheets, and transparencies, circa 1955-1976. Includes both black-and-white and color negatives and transparencies, ranging in size from 35 mm. to 8x10 in. The negatives, some with accompanying contact sheets, represent commercial work on such topics as fashion, food, automobiles, and household products. Major clients include Town and Country, Life, Harper's Bazaar, Fortune, Scientific American, and Esquire. Of particular interest are fifty-four 180 and 360 negatives, apparently made with a circuit camera. These negatives, some as large as 10x62 in., depict New York and environs during the 1950s. Negatives have been filed by original numerical order, although many appear missing. A few personal projects (e.g. Christmas cards) are also included. A photocopy of Rose's index cards arranged by client and subject in included.

There are approximately 8,760 35-mm. transparencies, mostly color, detailing Rose's experimental work. Slides have been arranged by Rose's own system which utilized subjects or projects as organizing units. Many, including entire subdivisions, are missing. Box 15 includes a photocopy of Rose's index cards.

Series five: Audio-visual materials, circa 1960-1980. Contains two reel-to-reel videotapes; seven 16 mm. Black-and-white and color films; four 35 mm. color prints and negatives of moving pictures; and five 1/4 in. reel-to-reel magnetic audiotapes. Most supplement Rose's commercial assignments or document his motion studies. The audiotapes record Rose working in his studio and may have served as the soundtrack for a film not included in the collection.

Series six: Equipment, circa 1960s. Included are a Karp Programmer invented by Rose's colleague, Tony Rose, and probably used for control of multiple flash units during a studio session; an auto strobe unit; and three circuit panels. No operating instructions or descriptions of use are present. Other equipment invented and used extensively by Rose (e.g. bicycle wheel strobe units) are not included in the collection.