Forty-one black and white photoprints, most of which are portraits of jazz, blues, Cajun, and zydeco musicians, plus a few additional subjects.
Scope and Contents:
These prints are all on fiber-based paper, unmounted. The subjects include jazz, blues, and zydeco musicians, politicians, and baseball players in action. All prints copyright 1994 by Alan Strauber, except as otherwise noted, and signed and dated on verso. All are 8" x 10" except for the 11" x 14" prints in box 2.
The majority of the photographs depict musicians in concert, but additional subjects include professional baseball players, politicians like Jerry Brown, and built structures in the American South and at Ellis Island.
Subjects include Marie Laveau's tomb, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Michel Doucette, George Porter, Aretha Franklin, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Johnny Copland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, "Snooks" Eaglin, Robert Ward, Bo Diddley, Don Byron, Cajun dancers, David Duke, Jerry Brown, Boozoo Chavis, Terrence Simien, Chubby Carrier, C. J. Chevier, Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Kenny Burrell, Robben Ford, Kenny Neal, Junior Wells, John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon, a Mardi Gras "Indian," Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and Robert "Junior" Lockwood; Ellis Island; and "Little Wimp's Barbecue House."
Arrangement:
1 series.
Arranged topically.
Biographical / Historical:
Alan Strauber is a photojournalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gannett Suburban Newspapers, Downbeat Magazine, and AKC Gazette, among others. His work is in the collections of Yad Vashem (Jerusalem, Israel), the Delta Blues Museum (Clarksdale, Mississippi), and the National Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, N.Y.). Among his special photographic interests are the photography of jazz musicians, professional baseball, and politicians; examples are contained in this collection. His e-mail address is
meandgi@sabbatai.com
He is also a poet and art critic. An article by Mr. Strauber, "Art entices eyes, ears at Whitney Museum" from the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal, April 11, 2002, is posted on the World Wide Web at http://cityguide.pojonews.com/fe/DayTrips/stories/dt_whitney_museum.asp.
Mr. Strauber is mentioned in on a genealogical site listing his family background, posted in the "Phair Family Circle" at http://www.geocities.com/hmshultz/phair.html.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Alan Strauber, 1994, December 21.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Alan Staruber retains copyright. At the time of donation, the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History obtained standard museum rights from the photographer to exhibit these photographs, lend them to other qualified museums, and publish them in its own publication program. These rights do not entitle the Archives Center to provide reproduction permission to third parties, which must contact the photographer for further information.
