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Christina Patoski Holiday Photoprints

Photographer:
Patoski, Christina  Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (2 boxes, 16" x 20")
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Dye destruction process
Cibachrome (tm)
Dye destruction photoprints
Place:
Santa Fe (N.M.) -- Holiday decorations
Brooklyn (N.Y.) -- Holiday decorations
Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Holiday decorations
Sun Valley (Idaho) -- Holiday decorations
New York (N.Y.) -- Holiday decorations
Corpus Christi (Texas) -- Holiday decorations
Denver (Colo.) -- Holiday decorations
Fort Worth (Tex.) -- Holiday decorations
New Orleans (La.) -- Holiday decorations
Dallas (Tex.)
Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) -- Holiday decorations
Date:
circa 1973-1992
Summary:
Fourteen color photographic prints by Christina Patoski, depicting front-lawn and front-porch holiday displays (primarily Christmas) in various U.S. cities.
Scope and Contents:
The fourteen photographs in this group are Cibachrome prints from 35mm. Kodachrome slides, documenting front-lawn and front-porch holiday displays (primarily Christmas) in various U.S. cities, including a variety of economic, ethnic, and regional groups, architectural genres, and decorating styles, documenting a "unique seasonal custom found only in America." Several images suggest attempts to broaden the cultural/religious basis of the celebration, combining Jewish traditions with the Christmas decorating tradition. Cities documented are Denver, Fort Worth, Minneapolis, Sun Valley (Idaho), Manhattan and Brooklyn, N.Y., Corpus Christi, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, and Santa Fe.

The Cibachrome prints are horizontal on 16" x 20" paper, with 22" x 28" mats, except for "Holiday Spectacular," which was used on an introductory panel in ta national Museum of American History exhibition, without a mat.
Arrangement:
Collection is unarranged.
Biographical / Historical:
Photographer, documentary producer, and journalist, Christina Patoski began photographing front-lawn and front-porch Christmas displays in 1973, in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning with a house on Diaz Street in the Como neighborhood. She called the photograph "Red Extravaganza," and it inspired her to photograph other houses. Driving up and down Fort Worth Streets at Christmastime with her saxophonist husband Johnny Reno, she worked exclusively at night. Concentrating at first on the most elaborate displays, she later sought simpler, more personal decorations, and became more discriminating. She repeated in many areas of the country as part of an ongoing project spread over many years. She is interested in documenting "unusual" elements of popular culture within a variety of topical fields.

She told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "I've seen so much, that for me to stop and take a photo now, it has to be something special… I've noticed, though, that there are a lot of houses decorated this year. And to me, that indicates a sense of optimism… when people decorate, there's a sense of good feeling."

Her photographic technique is simple, employing two fifteen-year-old 35mm cameras and low-speed Kodachrome film, using commercial processing. She has been photographing since she was a child, when her father encouraged her. Graduating from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism, she spent several years in Minneapolis as a dancer, choreographer, and television editor. She returned to Fort Worth in 1976 to work in television news, but since 1979 has been a free-lance writer, radio reporter (contributing to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered), and a producer and writer.

She is interested in documenting unusual elements of popular culture (what she calls "weirdness"), such as her Texas Monthly story, illustrated with her portraits, on Texas women with "big" hair. She maintains files on longhorn steer, pyromaniacs, tornadoes, and cheerleading, and considers herself a "Margaret Mead of popular culture."

Sources Jackie Koszczuk and Janet Tyson, "A Sense of the festive: Photographer captures home-grown Christmas Art," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Section E, December 25, 1993, pp. 1, 4.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Christina Patoski, December 14, 1994.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Christina Patoski retains copyright. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Christianity and other religions -- Judaism -- Holiday decorations -- 1970-2000  Search this
Judaism -- Customs and practices  Search this
Christmas decorations -- 1970-2000  Search this
Hanukkah decorations -- 1970-2000  Search this
Housing -- 1950-2000 -- U.S.  Search this
Decorations -- Holiday -- 1950-2000 -- U.S.  Search this
Holiday decorations -- 1970-2000  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- Color photoprints -- 1950-2000
Dye destruction process
Cibachrome (TM)
Dye destruction photoprints
Citation:
[Photograph title], Christina Patoski Holiday Photoprints, 1973-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Copyright Christina Patoski. Gift of the artist.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0508
See more items in:
Christina Patoski Holiday Photoprints
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep839603bc7-5156-45f6-bd46-fb8381d2f498
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0508

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