circa 11000 Negatives (photographic) (black and white and color, 2.5 x 2.5 inches or smaller)
circa 5000 Photographic prints (silver gelatin, black and white, 8 x 10 inches or smaller)
circa 20 Linear feet (Manuscript Materials)
5.4 Linear feet (Office Files)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives (photographic)
Photographic prints
Negatives
Place:
Johannesburg (South Africa)
Botswana
Lesotho
South Africa
Swaziland
Transkei (South Africa)
Natal (South Africa)
Africa
Soweto (South Africa)
Eastern Transvaal (South Africa)
Zululand (South Africa)
Ixopo (South Africa)
Pretoria (South Africa)
Port Elizabeth (South Africa)
Paris (France)
Date:
1900-1997
Summary:
The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Loved, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Manuscript and office files include clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.
Scope and Contents:
The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Lovedu, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand.
Notable people photographed include Noel Coward, Gwen Ffangcon Davies, Athol Fugard, Nadine Gordimer, Norman Hackforth, Freida Lock, Ivor Novello, Alan Paton, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto, and Marda Vanne.
The manuscript materials and office files are comprised of clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other manuscript materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.
Arrangement:
Arranged by format into 3 series:
Series 1: Photographs, circa 1936-circa 1988
Series 2: Manuscript Materials, circa 1936-circa 1996
Series 3: Office Files, 1900-1997
Biographical/Historical note:
Photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee (1914-2000) was best known for her images taken in South Africa. Born in Cornwall, England, she was raised in Pretoria. She studied photography in London (1933-1935) and at the Bavarian State Institute for Photography in Munich (1935-1936), where she was influenced by the avant-garde work of artists at the Bauhaus. Returning to South Africa, Larrabee set up a studio and photographed many leading cultural and political figures of the period. During World War II she served as South Africa's first woman war correspondent, and in 1950 she married American Sterling Larrabee and moved to the United States.
Larrabee began photographing the peoples of South Africa in the late 1930s. She published extensively, including a portfolio produced for the book Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1948). Her work has appeared in exhibits throughout the world, including the following: The Lovedu in Pretoria, 1947; The Family of Man (Museum of Modern Art, 1955); Tribal Photographs (Corcoran Art Gallery, 1984; and Go Well, My Child (National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1986).
Provenance:
Donated by Constance Stuart Larabee in 1986 and 1998.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Photographic prints
Negatives
Citation:
Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection, EEPA 1998-006, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The cataloging of the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection was supported by a grant from The Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Strip number: 6821, 6822; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6821, 6822; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6825; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6826; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6827; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6828, 6829; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6828, 6829; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6830; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6831; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6832; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Strip number: 6833; Larrabee's description on negative sleeve: Transkei Color Originals
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman, Transkei, 1949. Her back is facing the photographer. She is wearing a beaded headdress and brass rings and beads in her hair. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There is one 8x10 black and white fiber-based print of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. It is signed "Constance Stuart Larrabee" by the photographer. EEPA also produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-88
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Portrait of Xhosa Woman, Transkei, 1949. This photograph is taken from a side view of the woman. She is wearing a beaded necklace and is looking to her left. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-89
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman, Transkei, 1949. She is standing while holding a twig in her hand and balancing objects wrapped in a sheet on her head. She is wearing a beaded necklace and brass bracelets. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-90
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman, Transkei, 1949. She is holding objects wrapped in a sheet on her head. She is wearing a beaded necklace and brass bracelets. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-91
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman With Her Donkeys, Transkei, 1949. The woman is walking down a road with her donkeys. She is balancing items wrapped in a sheet on her head. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-91
Contact Sheet Numbers: 306405-14 (Transkei)
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman With Her Donkey, Transkei, 1949. The woman is standing beside her donkey holding a stick and bottle in one hand, and balancing items wrapped in a sheet on her head. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-93
Contact Sheet Numbers: 306405-14 (Transkei)
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman With Her Donkey, Transkei, 1949. The woman is standing beside her donkey holding a stick and bottle in one hand, and balancing items wrapped in a sheet on her head. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-94
Contact Sheet Numbers: 306405-14 (Transkei)
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Xhosa Woman With Her Donkey, Transkei, 1949. The woman is standing beside her donkey holding a stick and bottle in one hand, and balancing items wrapped in a sheet on her head. Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, 1949.
There are no prints of this negative in the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection. EEPA produced an 8x10 study print for reference purposes.
Local Note:
Original Constance Stuart Larrabee Number: 17-95
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
