Gertrude Duby Blom exhibit photographs and project records, 1941-2004, 2015

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Summary

Creator:
Blom, Gertrude Duby, Blom, Gertrude Duby -- Gertrude Blom: bearing witness, and Harris, Alex, 1949-
Abstract:
Gertrude Duby Blom (1901-1993) was a Swiss-born photographer, journalist, anthropologist, and environmental activist. Collection comprises 71 black-and-white exhibit photographs featuring images taken by Gertrude Duby Blom between 1941 and 1979 in the highland jungles of Lacandón and other areas and towns in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The images document the cultural and ecological environments inhabited by indigenous Maya, predominantly the Lacandones; there are also images of Latino immigrants to the region, chiefly lumber industry workers and their families, and other townspeople in San Cristobal. Scenes from camps and towns portray mealtimes, hunting and gathering expeditions, agricultural customs, religious ceremonies, folk Catholicism and its rituals, classrooms, medical clinics, and street scenes. Later images attest to the destruction of native ecosystems and the rapidly changing culture of the indigenous peoples. The matted gelatin silver prints vary in size from 11x14 to 22x22 inches; there is also one 26x26 inch matted print. The accompanying exhibit and project records contain correspondence, notes, publicity, and other materials (1983-2004) documenting the collaboration between Alex Harris, documentary photographer from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Gertrude Blom, and individuals in Mexico and the U.S., which resulted in a major exhibit, "People of the forest: photographs of the Maya by Getrude Blom," launched in 1984, and the publication of "Gertrude Blom: bearing witness" (1984). Includes a 2015 audio interview conducted by Alex Harris with Blom's collaborator Barry Norris, who printed the photographs in this collection. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
9 Linear Feet (8 boxes; 1 oversize folder)
1.21 Gigabytes (3 files (.WAV, .MP3, and .PKV ))
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.10084

Background

Scope and content:

Collection comprises 71 black-and-white exhibit prints featuring images taken by anthropologist, activist, and journalist Gertrude Duby Blom between 1941 and 1979 in the highland jungles of Lacandón and other areas and towns of the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The photographs were printed in 1982 by Barry Norris, Blom's close friend and collaborator, for a major exhibition of her work that opened in 1984 in New York City.

The landscapes and portraits taken by Blom document the cultural and ecological environments inhabited by indigenous Maya, predominantly the Lacandón, but also neighboring Tzotzil and Tzeltal; there are also images of Latino immigrants to the region, chiefly lumber industry workers and their families, and other townspeople in San Cristobal, state of Chiapas. Scenes from camps and towns document mealtimes, hunting and gathering expeditions, agricultural customs, religious ceremonies, folk Catholicism and its rituals, classrooms, medical clinics, and street scenes. Later images attest to the destruction of native ecosystems and the rapidly changing culture of indigenous peoples. The matted gelatin silver prints vary in size from 11x14 to 22x22 inches; there is also one 26x26 inch matted print.

Accompanying the photographs are files of project correspondence, notes, publicity, and other materials (1983-2004) documenting the collaboration between Alex Harris, documentary photographer of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Gertrude Duby Blom, and individuals in Mexico and the U.S., which resulted in a major international traveling exhibit, "People of the forest: photographs of the Maya by Getrude Blom," launched in 1984, and the publication of a book of essays and images, "Gertrude Blom: Bearing witness" (1984), edited by Alex Harris and Margaret Sartor. Includes 2015 audio interview recording conducted by Alex Harris of Blom's collaborator Barry Norris, who discusses the production of the book and exhibit, and Blom's project and photography work and her personal life (available online).

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Gertrude Duby Blom (1901-1993) was a journalist, anthropologist, and activist of Swiss descent who spent more than 40 years documenting the Mayan cultures of Chiapas, Mexico. She married Kurt Duby in 1925; they divorced several years later. Forced to emigrate from her native country in the 1930s because of her Socialist and anti-Fascist activities, she traveled to England, then made her way to Mexico City, where she began a long association with the Mexican people and their country.

A major turn in life occurred when Blom met with anthropologists who were studying the native peoples of central Mexico's highlands and jungles; on one of her first trips she encountered the Lacandon tribe of Mayan Indians, who had only just been in contact with Europeans since the late 1880s. In 1943, anthropologist Frans Blom invited her to join an expedition to the cloud forests of Chiapas, thus beginning a lifelong alliance. The Bloms, who married in 1951, focused all of their research, support, and patrimony on this area of Chiapas and on the Lancandon in particular, studying and documenting the plight of indigenous peoples from the 1940s to the 1980s as settlers deforested their territory and brought their way of life to an end.

In the 1950s, Gertrude and Frans established Casa Na Bolom (House of the Jaguar), a research center and hostel, which also served as a center for a support network for the Lacandon and other indigenous peoples. By the 1970s the Bloms has also shaped it into an active center for environmental activism in support of the Lacandón highland jungles of Chiapas, threatened by mining, logging, and modern methods of farming.

Blom published her first collection of photographs in 1984, Gertrude Blom: Bearing Witness, sponsored by the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University and guided to publication by Alex Harris and Margaret Sartor of the CDS. A one-hour biographical film, "Reina de la Selva," was released in 1989 by director Robert Cozens.

The photographs in this collection were printed in 1982 by Barry Norris, Blom's close friend and collaborator, for a large traveling exhibition that opened in 1984 in New York City, titled "People of the Forest: photographs of the Maya by Gertrude Blom," which subsequently traveled to major cities in the U.S. and overseas through the 2000s.

Gertrude Duby Blom passed away December 23, 1993, and is buried in La Selva Lacandona alongside her husband, Frans Blom.

Acquisition information:
The Gertrude Duby Blom exhibit photographs and project records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a transfer from the Center for Documentary Studies in 2013.
Processing information:

Processed by: Levi Crews and Paula Jeannet, February 2014.

Encoded by Levi Crews and Paula Jeannet, March 2014.

Updated description and subject heading access provided by Paula Jeannet, July 2023.

Accessions described in this finding aid: 2013-0144

Arrangement:

Collection arranged in three series: Exhibit Prints, Exhibit Project Records, and Audio Interview Recording. The matted prints are arranged by size and chronologically within size groups.

Physical facet:
Approximately 420 items
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gertrude Duby Blom exhibit photographs and project records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.