Maynard L. Parker Negatives, Photographs, and Other Material. Dates: 1930-1974 Dates: Bulk 1940S-1960S Quantity: 231 Boxes, 150.01 Linear Feet Abstract: Maynard L
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6k4034m6 Online items available Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein and Jessica Gambling. The Huntington LibraryMay 2009 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108 Phone: 626-405-2180 Email: [email protected] photCL MLP 1 Overview of the Collection Repository: The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, CA 91108 Phone: 626-405-2180 Email: [email protected] Creator: Parker, Maynard L., 1900-1976. Title: Maynard L. Parker negatives, photographs, and other material. Dates: 1930-1974 Dates: bulk 1940s-1960s Quantity: 231 boxes, 150.01 linear feet Abstract: Maynard L. Parker negatives, photographs, and other material consists of 58,093 black-and-white negatives, color transparencies, black-and-white prints, and color prints; 39 presentation albums; and 17 boxes of office records, 1930-1974. Created primarily by Maynard Parker, the archive documents the residential and non-residential work of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, artists, builders, real estate developers, and clients associated with these fields, foremost among them the magazine House Beautiful. Also included in the collection are photographs taken by other individuals, such as architect Cliff May and Parker's assistant, Charles Yerkes. Note Visit the Huntington Digital Library Maynard L. Parker Database (http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15150coll5) for the most current images and information related to the Maynard L. Parker archive. Identification: photCL MLP Language of Material: English Biographical Note Maynard L. Parker (1900-1976), known sometimes as "Mike," was born and raised in Vermont. Parker worked in New England at a variety of jobs, including office boy, machinist, and gardener, before turning to photography as a profession. Parker traveled to California three times in the 1920s, finally settling in Los Angeles in 1929. He and his wife, Annie, lived in the Echo Park neighborhood, where Parker built a house on Lemoyne Street designed by a draftsman in architect Richard Neutra's office. The New England saltbox-style house served as residence and studio, as well as the backdrop for many of Parker's published photographs. Parker's personal interests included archery, home renovation, and building furniture. [See photocopies of Maynard and Annie Parker's journals, and interview transcript with Ann Carawan and Diane Parker, February 14, 2008, in collection files]. Parker taught himself photography in the 1920s, achieving success in the amateur photography contests in which he participated. In 1927 he was hired as a bookkeeper for the Mott Studios of Photography, a firm specializing in architectural photography. By 1930 he was employed as a full-time professional photographer for Mott Studios. In 1936, he was a photographer for Skinner Photo Arts, another Los Angeles studio. Parker received his first major private commission in 1938, photographing the Sunset Boulevard store of jeweler Paul Flato, which allowed Parker to hone his considerable skills in dramatic lighting and creative set-ups. By 1940, Parker had come to the attention of Elizabeth Gordon. She became editor of House Beautiful in 1941, and thus began an affiliation between the two that lasted until 1964, when Gordon left the magazine. Parker also came to know a number of architects, designers, and builders, both through his relationship with House Beautiful and his other commercial work. Parker established Maynard L. Parker Fine Photographs in 1938, changing the name to Maynard L. Parker Modern Photography in 1940. While Parker utilized family and a few assistants to help manage the business, he generally worked alone on assignments. Using an antique 4x5-inch camera and a complicated lighting system, he achieved dramatic effects. He often used a wide-angle lens to heighten a location's salient features, and he fearlessly scaled rooftops to achieve the optimum vantage point. Occasionally, he placed both his camera and lights underneath furniture. Parker's black-and-white outdoor work relied on stark shadows and high contrast to emphasize a garden's structure, form, and texture. He rarely created test shots, and often completed shoots with limited amounts of film. Parker routinely sent images from one assignment to multiple publications to maximize his output. He developed a photographic inventory of celebrity residences that he could market to magazines if commissions slowed down. He also planned family vacations to the East Coast, photographing the work of various architects and designers as he crossed the country. Parker's relationships and photCL MLP 2 entrepreneurial efforts helped him build a client base that included hundreds of architects, designers, builders, design studios, retail furnishings businesses, and shelter magazines. Parker undertook much of his House Beautiful work on extensive trips on both the East and West coasts. Accompanied by Joseph Howland, the magazine's garden editor from 1948 to 1956, the two followed Elizabeth Gordon's mandate to capture "beautiful gardens maintained by a family." As a consequence, Parker visually documented gardens by some of the nation's premiere landscape designers of the era. Among the architects, designers, and builders with whom Parker worked extensively were his friend and pioneering modernist architect Harwell Hamilton Harris; James E. Dolena, one of the foremost architects working in the Hollywood Regency style; Cliff May, the popularizer of the modern California ranch house and a close personal friend; Pasadena-based architect Wallace Neff; Robert Stanton, a Carmel-based architect and close personal friend; Paul R. Williams, a Los Angeles-based African-American architect; Frank Lloyd Wright, to whom Parker was introduced by Elizabeth Gordon; landscape architects Tommy Church and Arthur and Marie Berger; developers Ross W. Cortese and Joseph Eichler; furniture and interior designers Paul Frankl, Paul László, Shirley Ritts of Ritts Co., and T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings; Robert D. Harrell, Texas-based interior designer; and Barbara Barondess MacLean, actress turned interior designer. The retail businesses that Parker counted among his more important clients included Barker Bros., Cannell & Chaffin, W. & J. Sloane, C. W. Stockwell Co., O. M. Scott & Sons, and Albert van Luit & Company. Print clients included Architectural Digest, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful , the Los Angeles Times , and Sunset, among others. Parker also established relationships with contributors to these, and other, publications including writers Louise Price Bell, Martha B. Darbyshire, Frances Heard, Pauline Graves, Ethel McCall Head, Ellen Sheridan, and Fleeta Woodroffe. Many of the editors at House Beautiful also became close friends of Parker's. Foremost among these was Joseph Howland, garden editor; Virginia Stanton, party editor and wife of architect Robert Stanton; and Jean Murray Bangs, contributing editor and wife of Harwell Hamilton Harris. Parker continued his work as a professional photographer into the late 1960s. He died in Los Angeles in 1976. Scope and Contents Maynard L. Parker negatives, photographs, and other material consists of 58,093 black-and-white negatives, color transparencies, black-and-white prints, and color prints; 39 presentation albums (spiral bound and mounted books of photographs created for clients); and 17 boxes of office records, dated 1930-1974. Created primarily by Maynard Parker, the archive documents the residential and non-residential work of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, artists, builders, real estate developers, and clients associated with these fields, foremost among them the magazine House Beautiful. Also included in the collection are photographs taken by other individuals, such as architects Frank L. Anderson and Cliff May, and photographers André Kertész, Fred R. Dapprich, and Parker's assistant, Charles E. Yerkes. Parker's documentation of the work of architects and interior designers is extensive, and provides a comprehensive overview of the projects of many nationally-recognized figures as well as many lesser known firms and individuals, especially those working in and around California, Arizona, and Texas. See Architect/Designer/Builder Index for a complete list of individuals and firms represented in the archive. Parker's commissions for House Beautiful are well documented in the archive. Included is a comprehensive overview of the work of architects, landscape architects, and interior designers covered by, and promoted in, the magazine. Also included are examples of party and holiday decorations, decorative accessories, and housewares in domestic settings. Parker's non-residential work for the magazine documents home and garden exhibitions, hotels, and furniture in showrooms. Primary among these projects is the extensive documentation of the Arts of Daily Living Exhibition held at the 1954 Los Angeles County Fair. Parker also extensively documented House Beautiful's annual Pace Setter House series, residential work for a number of the magazine's editors and contributing staff, and residences across the country and in Mexico. Parker's projects created outside the scope of his House Beautiful commissions document both residential and non-residential work created for specific clients. See Client Index for a complete list of names and project numbers. Many projects do not have readily identifiable clients. These include the homes of many entertainers, movie directors, businessmen,