‘Life’ Photographer’s Archive and $1M Donated to Center for Creative Photography

The Center for Creative Photography on the University of Arizona has acquired the archive of famend Life journal photographer Benn Mitchell, in addition to a $1 million reward.

Esther Mitchell donated everything of her late husband’s archive to assist protect the work of the photographer who captured “American vitality” throughout the mid-Twentieth century. The $1 million might be used to determine the Benn and Esther Mitchell Endowed Collection Fund.

Esther says she had been looking for the best house for Benn’s work and realized concerning the Center for Creative Photography’s fame for preserving archives. “They don’t just store photographs. They study them, teach with them and share them with the public. That combination really made me feel it was the right place,” Esther says.

Included in Benn Mitchell’s archive are his negatives and prints, plus clippings and publications that includes his work, and in addition a few of his gear. Through the donation, the Center for Creative Photography now holds the copyright to Mitchell’s work, which might be made obtainable for schooling, exhibition, and scholarly research.

“The Center for Creative Photography [CCP] is the ideal home for Benn Mitchell’s archive, and we are extremely grateful to Esther Mitchell for choosing the CCP to be the steward of Benn’s legacy,” says the director of the CCP, Todd Tubutis. “Esther understands the critical importance of collections care, and her endowment gift will help ensure we are able to maintain best practices in preserving our collection and making it accessible to everyone.”

Who Was Benn Mitchell?

Benn Mitchell, born in New York in 1926, acquired his first digital camera on the age of 13 and bought his first image to Life when he was 16. The photograph was a traditional climate shot exhibiting his little brother making an attempt to maintain cool throughout a heatwave by sitting on a block of ice whereas consuming ice cream. Life paid him $25.

“He thought he was a rich, successful photographer right then. From that point on, he was always looking for the next picture,” his widow Esther says.

At 17, Mitchell moved to Hollywood and photographed the likes of Humphrey Bogart earlier than spending two years as a photographer within the U.S. Navy. In 1951, he returned to New York and opened a business studio with Esther. There, he undertook all varieties of images, together with beautiful Manhattan avenue scenes and documenting American Indian tradition. He additionally undertook business assignments in promoting and inventory images.

“Benn had the patience to wait for the right day, the right light and the right moment for the perfect picture,” Esther says. “He could spend hours — sometimes all night — in the darkroom making sure the print matched the image he envisioned.”