Writings and Notebooks, 1949-1988 and undated
- Access Restrictions:
-
Access restricted. Some materials in this series include student records. In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records. Contact Research Services for more information.
- :
- More about accessing and using these materials...
- Scope and content:
-
The materials in this series are a rich source of information regarding Gedney's projects, his interests, his personal reflections - including his thoughts about the subjects he was photographing, and detailed information about his camera and darkroom techniques.
In his numerous notebooks and other volumes, many of them handmade, Gedney recorded travel expenses, places visited, overheard conversations, slang, people's names and addresses, and sights, sounds, and smells that caught his attention. In other notebooks he also copied down quotations from literary and artistic criticism and many other sources, interspersed with his own reflections, and pasted in clippings about subjects in which he was interested.
A project devoted to the history of Brooklyn and Gedney's own neighborhood of Myrtle Avenue takes shape across several volumes of research notes, clippings, illustrations, and other texts; materials in these volumes may well provide references to the source of Gedney's fascination with the 19th century poet Walt Whitman, who lived on Myrtle Avenue for a time.
Notebooks, memo books, and journals dating from the same period often complement each other, one giving a more diary-like account and the other more factual information. Most of them relate directly to the major photographic projects being created at the same time. Several folders of writings on looseleaf pages, dating from as early as 1949 to 1982, offer a glipmse into Gedney's creative and documentary writing style.
There are also examples of photographic field notebooks, or roll books, in which Gedney noted film roll numbers, locations, names of subjects, film types, camera settings, and sometimes the time of day.
The series is completed with a large group of technical notebooks and handbooks recording Gedney's darkroom techniques, experiments, and projects.
- Arrangement:
-
Materials are organized alphabetically by the folder and volume titles assigned by Gedney, or in the absence of a title, assigned by library staff.
Contents
Using These Materials
- Using These Materials Links:
-
Using These Materials
- Collection restrictions:
-
Portions of the collection are closed pending digitization.
Access note. Collection contains fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.
Access restricted. Some materials in this collection include student records. In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records. Contact Research Services for more information.
- Use & permissions:
-
The copyright interests for Gedney images in this collection are held by Duke University. However, some commercial work, audio recordings, and materials by other creators, may carry other copyright considerations. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, or contact the Rubenstein Library.
- Before you visit:
- Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.