Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Emmet Gowin

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.gowin10
Creators:
Gowin, Emmet, 1941-
Goodyear, Frank H., III, 1967-
Dates:
2010 May 13-14
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
7 Items
Sound recording, master: 7 memory cards (6 hr., 3 min.)
secure digital
1.25 in.
81 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Interview of Emmet Gowin, conducted by Frank Goodyear for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution at the Gowins' home in Danville, Virginia, on May 13-14, 2010.
Scope and Contents
Gowin speaks of his upbringing and how he decided to become a Quaker; his relationship with his sister, who had Down Syndrome; growing up in Chincoteague, VA and other Virginia towns; going to business school in Richmond; meeting his wife Edith; transitioning from Richmond Professional Institute to work with Harry Callahan at the Rhode Island School of Design; learning different techniques of printing pictures; studying with Frederick Sommer; the making and reception of his early family photographs of Edith, the Boohers, and his children; other photographic projects including the Mount St. Helens eruption, photographs in the Middle East, Europe, and South America, nuclear test sites in the western U.S., and his collection of moths; teaching at Princeton University; his attitude toward Postmodernism; how the Light Gallery began; and his artistic influences, including Callahan, Sommer, Robert Frank, Alfred Stieglitz, Walker Evans, Eugéne Atget, Hercules Seghers, William Blake, and others. Gowin also recalls Peter Bunnell, Grant Gentry, Fazal Sheikh, Peter McGill, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Elaine Pagels, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Interviewee Emmet Gowin (1941- ) is an educator and photographer in Newtown, Pa. Gowin photographed Edith and Rennie Booher and extended family. Interviewer Frank H. Goodyear (1967- ) was at the time of the interview the associate curator of photographs with the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, D.C.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview was provided by the Brown Foundation.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This interview is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Educators -- New Jersey -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- Pennsylvania -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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