Collections

The collection helps document the formation of the Kamoinge Workshop in the early 1960s, including a notebook with minutes from their earliest meetings. Photographs from the collection show the early members of Kamoinge, and in particular focuses on the life of Louis H. Draper (1935-2002).

The extensive collection documents the life and work of Richmond-born photographer and educator Louis Draper (1935–2002). Manuscript and photographic materials document Draper's experience and work as an African American photographer, including his recognition of his photography as a form of "engaged resistance" that not only bore witness to leaders of the civil rights movement, but also offered a richer and more diverse perspective of African American life than provided by the mainstream media. In 1963, he was a founding member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of African American photographers, and the collection includes significant materials from the early years of the Kamoinge Workshop and document his perspective on the professional challenges that he and the collective confronted in the process of finding publications that would publish photographs of African Americans made by African Americans. His photographs of significant 20th-century artists, writers, musicians, and performers reflect the wide array of personal connections that Draper made after moving to New York from Richmond, Virginia in 1957. Printed photographs and contact sheets in Draper's archive show a broad view of city life and the everyday interactions between people and also offer a unique vision of African American neighborhoods in the 1960s and 1970s.

Born in 1949, Marsha Polier Grossman has held a long career acting in various artistic roles, such as graphic designer, photographer, and instructor, to name a few. In the 1970s and 1980s, Grossman frequently exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, alongside other prominent Virginia photographers. Her collection includes examples of her artwork, correspondence with other artists, and information on exhibitions in which she was a participant.

The collection documents the career of renowned lensless photographer Willie Anne Wright. Wright's paintings, serigraphs and drawings were her professional focus until 1972 when pinhole photography became her primary creative medium. Comprised mainly of the exhibition files Wright maintained, as well as information about gallery representation and art sales, the collection traces the evolution of her artistic journey over four decades.