This collection contains silver gelatin prints and black and white photographic negatives shot by photographer Abigail Adler throughout the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah between 1975 and 1980.
Scope and Contents:
The A. Adler photographic collection includes gelatin silver prints, 35mm and 120mm film negatives, and contact sheets. Series 1: Diné (Navajo) Portraits, Families, and Community Events, 1976-1979, includes 11 gelatin silver prints that were shot by photographer Abigail Adler throughout the Navajo Nation, including modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The photographs depict Diné (Navajo) individuals and family portraits; ceremonial scenes, such as a Kinaaldá (girl's puberty ceremony), portrait of woman and mother on wedding day, and a Medicine Man with sand painting; and daily activities such as planting corn, outdoor cooking, and traveling by horse-drawn wagon. Series 2: Diné (Navajo) Community and Events Photographs, 1975-1980 includes 4295 35mm film and 460 120mm film black and white photographic negatives and 8 associated contact sheets. . The photographs depict scenes with Diné (Navajo) community members, both at their homes and hogans as well as at community events such as at protests, art shows, contests, in court, and ceremonies like weddings. Adler's photographic negatives exhibit the range of her documentary and personal work throughout the Navajo Nation and the breadth of her connectedness to the greater Diné (Navajo) community. There may be content within this collection that is considered culturally sensitive.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in two series. Series 1: Diné (Navajo) Portraits, Families, and Community Events [Photographic Prints], 1976-1979, and Series 2: Diné (Navajo) Community and Events Photographs [photographic negatives], 1975-1980. Series 2 is divided into 15 subseries based on Abigail Adler's original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Abigail Adler was an American professional photographer with a degree in Anthropology from Barnard College in New York City. Adler lived on the Navajo Reservation for five years and began her career as a reporter and photographer, using Leica M3's and a Rolleiflex cameras, while working for the Navajo Times. She received funding through the Navajo Nation and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for her project titled Navajo Matriarchs, which illustrated the complex, modern lives of Navajo Women of all ages and traditions.
Provenance:
Series 1 was a Gift of Gail Adler Hughes (Abigail Adler), 1979. Series 2 was a gift of the Estate of Abigail Adler, 2023.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
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Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Abigail Adler Diné (Navajo) photographs, NMAI.AC.373 catalog #; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
