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Collection Data
- Description
- George E. Joseph (1922-2013) was the staff photographer for the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater from 1956 to 1993, photographing many productions at the Delacorte Theater, Public Theater, and other locations around New York City. Actors of note represented in the collection include James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, Raul Julia, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and many more. The George E. Joseph photographs include prints, negatives, contact sheets, color slides, and paper material chronicling the production and institutional history of the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater.
- Names
- Joseph, George E. (Creator)
- Joseph, George E. (Photographer)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1954 - 2008
- Library locations
- Billy Rose Theatre Division
- Shelf locator: *T-Vim 2011-302
- Topics
- Papp, Joseph
- New York Shakespeare Festival Productions
- New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater
- Central Park (New York, N.Y.)
- Experimental theater -- New York (State) -- New York
- Off-Broadway theater
- Performing arts -- Photographs
- Photography
- Theater -- New York (State) -- New York -- Photographs
- Photographers
- Genres
- Photographs
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: George E. Joseph (1922-2013) was a New York-based performing arts photographer most known for his work as the staff photographer for the New York Shakespeare Festival/ the Public Theater from 1956 to 1993.
George E. Joseph began his association with the New York Shakespeare Festival (NYSF) in the summer of 1956 after being asked by Harcourt Brace publishing for a recent photo of a Julius Caesar production for a new printing of the text. After reading a New York Times announcement for a free production of the play at the Lower East Side's East River Amphitheater, Joseph contacted the group's leader, Joseph Papp. Recognizing the need for free publicity for the fledgling company, Papp agreed to have Joseph photograph the production.
Joseph was immediately taken by the way the company captivated the audience of the Lower East Side. Seeing this as a unique opportunity, Joseph continued to offer his services to NYSF free of charge; this arrangement continued for several years until NYSF attained regular funding allowing Joseph to charge for his services. From the beginning of his volunteer work with the organization until his retirement, Joseph was permitted to retain all negatives and transparencies, and the rights to their use.
The New York Shakespeare Festival was founded in 1954 by director-producer, Joseph Papp, with the intent of providing free Shakespeare productions for the residents of New York City. Originating as a mobile production company, the New York Shakespeare Festival put on performances in New York City parks around the boroughs, including the Lower East Side, Harlem, and Central Park. The festival became a summer tradition for the city and, beginning with the 1961 season, a permanent home was founded at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
In 1967, the Public Theater was founded with the intent of producing new productions from up-and-coming playwrights, with a focus on diversity. Occupying the space of the former Astor Library, the Public Theater has become an important space for performance art in New York City.
Upon his retirement in 1993, Joseph moved to California. He passed away in 2013.
- Content: The George E. Joseph photographs cover many productions produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater between 1956 and 1993.The collection includes images of performances, rehearsals, staged stills, cast shots, backstage, audiences, construction of both the Delacorte and Public Theaters, fundraising events, and New York City Parks. There are many images of Joseph Papp throughout the collection including headshots, Papp at work producing/directing, at home with family, and events honoring Papp.
The collection is arranged into two groups: Productions and Subjects and Additional Material. Productions and Subjects represent the bulk of the collection and include productions, events and other assignments photographed by Joseph. Some paper material such as programs and press releases may also accompany photographic material. Additional Material contains paper material such as programs, flyers, press releases, indexes, and other ephemeral material that did not accompany photographs. Both groups are arranged alphabetically.
Formats represented in the colletion include 35mm and 120mm negatives, prints, color slides, and contact sheets.
Productions of note include: Hair, A Chorus Line, True West, Streamers, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, The Curse of the Starving Class, That Championship Season, Runaways, The Colored Museum, Talk Radio, Fen, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf, No Place to Be Somebody, The Normal Heart, Wedding Band, The Pirates of Penzance, and many more.
Notable actors represented throughout the collection include: James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst, George C. Scott, Charles Durning, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston, Meryl Streep, Raul Julia, Kevin Kline, Martin Sheen, Olympia Dukakis, Ruby Dee, F. Murray Abraham, Al Pacino, Carol Kane, Morgan Freeman, Stacy Keach, Gloria Foster, Roscoe Lee Browne, Julie Harris, Meat Loaf, Cleavon Little, Garrett Morris, Mandy Patinkin, Danny DeVito, John Cazale, Irene Worth, Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates, Denzel Washington, Linda Ronstadt, Madeline Kahn, Victor Wong, Mary Beth Hurt, Anna Deavere Smith, Lee Grant, Robert DeNiro, Estelle Parsons, Dianne Wiest, Ethan Hawke, and many others who graced the stages of the Delacorte or Public Theater as up-and-coming performers or established stars.
Playwrights of note, whose work is represented throughout the collection include: Elizabeth Swados, Ntozake Shange, David Henry Hwang, Sam Shepard, David Mamet, Wallace Shawn, Caryl Churchill, George C. Wolfe, Bill Gunn, Tina Howe, Larry Kramer, Charles Gordone, Thomas Babe, David Hare, Eric Bogosian, E.L. Doctorow and many more.
In addition to plays and musicals, other productions represented throughout the collection include: cultural festivals, performance pieces such as Meredith Monk's Specimen Days; music performances; poetry readings; performances and workshops by Bread and Puppet Theater; and dance festivals featuring performances by the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and others.
While primarily covering Joseph's work for the New York Shakespeare Festival/the Public Theater, a small amount of non-NYSF material exists including slides from a television program hosted by Jack Lescoulie, wedding photographs, and shots of the Joseph family home.
Joseph maintained an internal numbering system for each assignment he worked for NYSF; these numbers were written on the backs of prints, contact sheets, and negative envelopes, and correspond with detailed indexes. Researchers are advised to consult these indexes in Additional Material for more information. Examples of indexes include productions sorted alphabetically and by year; Joseph Papp; production of Shakespeare works; Public Theater renovations; and Name indexes for actors, directors, and designers sorted alphabetically and by company debut.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 36.68 linear feet (88 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
- Negatives
- Transparencies
- Type of Resource
- Still image
- Identifiers
- Other local Identifier: *T-Vim 2011-302
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b22739212
- MSS Unit ID: 185612
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 89a68e50-e6a1-013a-ba43-0242ac110002
