Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. approximately 5,500 images in 27 boxes : prints and negatives, some color; 41 x 51 cm. or smaller

Summary

1. The Fred Fehl photographs collection consists of photographs and published materials related to Fehl's work documenting dance and theater performances, mainly in New York City. The majority of the photographs are black and white 5 x 7" prints. Ballet companies that are well represented are the American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, and the New York City Ballet. There are also published materials that feature Fehl's photography as reproduced in newspapers, magazines, programs, and other media.

Subject

1. Photographers
2. Martha Graham Dance Company Photographs
3. American Ballet Theatre Photographs
4. Modern dance > New York (State) > New York
5. New York City Opera Photographs
6. Photographic prints
7. Bolʹshoĭ teatr SSSR > Balet > Photographs
8. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Photographs
9. Joffrey Ballet School Photographs
10. Theater > Photographs
11. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Photographs
12. Robbins, Jerome > choreographer
13. Balanchine, George > choreographer
14. Ballet > Photographs
15. New York City Ballet Photographs
16. Negatives (photographs)
17. Fracci, Carla > dancer
18. Harkness Ballet Photographs
19. Performing arts > Photographs
20. Bruhn, Erik, 1928-1986, > dancer

Genre/Form

1. Photographic prints.
2. Negatives (photographs).

Call number

1. *MGZEB 18-2790

Note

1. The finding aid for the Fred Fehl photographs collection is a conflation of multiple gift and donation inventories created by Fred Fehl from the early 1990s. The materials are organized alphabetically by company name, then alphabetically by ballet and then chronologically within the folder when there are multiple dates present.
2. The collection is predominantly comprised of black and white 5 x 7" prints that capture dance performances, mostly in New York City, from 1940-1990. Best represented are the American Ballet Theatre; the Joffrey Ballet; the Harkness Ballet; the Bolshoi Ballet; and the New York City Ballet. Numerous other dance companies are also represented, such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, and the Martha Graham Dance Company.
3. In addition to photographs of performances, there are occasional shots of rehearsals, studio shots, or individual dancer portraits; some televised ballet productions are also represented. The photographs range from sizes 8" x 10" to 16" x 20". At the end of the New York City Ballet prints, there is one folder of xerox copies of George Balanchine photographs. These copies are numbered and have their own finding aid preceding them within the folder. Additionally there is a small amount of New York City Ballet negatives located at the end of the NYCB print series and are arranged by the number designated by Fehl.
4. The second series, Published Materials, represents Fehl's dance photography as reproduced in newspapers, magazines and other media. Included are clippings, magazine covers, sound recording covers, and book covers. These published materials were on display at an exhibition of Fehl's career in 1976 at the NYPL's Library of the Performing Arts.

Source (note)

1. Fred Fehl;

Author

1. Fehl, Fred, photographer.

Title

1. Fred Fehl photographs.

Production

1. 1940-1993.

Type of content

1. still image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. sheet

Biography

1. Photographer Fred Fehl (1906-1995) was born and educated in Vienna and settled in New York in 1939 after fleeing from Nazi occupied territory Austria in 1938. Early in his career he worked as a children's photographer to support himself while he pursued his true passion of documenting theater and stage productions. Since his arrival in the United States, Fehl avidly documented the performing arts and devoted his life to capturing the ephemeral nature of dance and theater. He became known as a pioneer in the taking of candid photographs during performances through the use of existing stage lighting, and has documented many productions from Broadway, the New York City Opera and Ballet, and American Ballet Theater, as well as unique performances which would otherwise have been visually lost. Fehl made his career as a performance photographer, covering theater, dance, opera, and music for more than forty years. He published several books of his photography, including Stars of the Ballet and Dance in Performance Photographs (1984) and At New York City Ballet (1991).

Source

1. Gift; Fred Fehl; 1991.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Finding aid

Occupation

1. Photographers.

Research call number

1. *MGZEB 18-2790