The majority of images in the collection are faculty and staff portraits taken by Duke Photography staff; a few pictures of students or of other individuals not affiliated with Duke are included. The collection contains photographic prints of various sizes, both black-and-white and color; contact sheets; negatives, including black-and-white 35mm negatives, positive 35mm color slides, and other sizes; and seven CDs of digital files. Most of the items are undated but appear to be from the 1980s through around 2000. Most items include a job number assigned by Duke Photography, either on the back of photographs or on the plastic sheets housing the negatives.
Duke Photography is a department of the Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations, an office responsible for communications and relations at the federal, state and local level, as well as marketing and campus news and communications. Duke Photography serves a number of audiences, providing photographic images for Duke’s academic programs, the athletics department, the media, and Duke affiliates. Chris Hildreth is the current director; the department also includes assistant director Les Todd and six other staff photographers.
Duke Photography was first known as the Photographic Department, appearing in the campus directory in 1946. Around 1955 Thad W. Sparks was hired as the official university photographer, supervised by the Bureau of Public Information under the Department of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs. A 1963 report by the Barton Gillet Company titled "Analysis and appraisal of communications, Duke University" probably played a role in the reorganization of the University's communications strategies, including its use of photography. At the time of the report there were two photographers working for Duke. The report suggested maintaining a central library of images and a regular rotating schedule to keep up-to-date photographs of the university’s facilities, people, and surroundings. In the late 1980s Jim Wallace was hired as the University Photographer, and in 1991 the department came to be known as University Photography. Chris Hildreth took over as director in 1994, and the department was renamed Duke Photography in 2007.
