Peter Dechert photographs of Pueblo Artists

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv472573b81-3e06-4849-83ef-b54b4f8dfcba

Photographer

Dechert, Peter

Provenance

Gift of the Dechert family, 2023.

Photographer

Dechert, Peter

Culture

Pojoaque Pueblo

K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)

San Ildefonso Pueblo

Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo)

Cochiti Pueblo

Acoma Pueblo

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Peter Dechert photographs of Pueblo Artists

Summary

The Peter Dechert photographs of Pueblo Artists collection contains 412 negatives, 33 contact sheets, and 70 photographs documenting many Native artists of the American Southwest circa 1970-1976.

Biographical / Historical

Biography from the Peter Dechert's obituary published in the Santa Fe New Mexican on Dec. 27, 2016. It has been edited to fit this finding aid: Peter Dechert, photojournalist and jazz musician, was born in 1924 in Philadelphia, PA. He was a graduate of the Los Alamos Ranch School (1941) and the University of Pennsylvania (BA 1948, MA 1950, PhD 1955). He also attended the Lawrenceville School and Episcopal Academy. A veteran of World War II, Dechert served in the 69th Infantry Division in France, Belgium, and Germany. While he was Staff Sergeant, Chief of Division Artillery Survey Section, his section was cited as the best of its kind in the US Army (1944). He was later appointed to Division Artillery Headquarters Intelligence. Peter taught himself photographic and darkroom techniques in his pre-teen years, and published his first photograph in Leica Magazine at the age of 15. Peter's photographs have been shown in a variety of gallery settings as well, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to his own Camera West gallery in Santa Fe. During his time with the School of American Research (now SAR) he studied innovative techniques for using photography in archaeological research, including oblique aerial photography. He contributed a section on Communication, Photography, and the Archaeologist to SAR's publication Photography in Archaeological Research. As founder of the Southwest Foundation for Audiovisual Resources, he documented many Indian artists at work. An internationally-renowned expert in camera history, he was best known for his books Canon Rangefinder Cameras 1933-68 and Olympus Pen Single Lens Reflex Cameras. In all, he wrote 5 books and several hundred articles on cameras and camera equipment. He loved poetry, taught modern American poetry at the University of Pennsylvania, and wrote many poems of his own. He served as the first President of the New Mexico Poetry Society. His poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and publications, including New Mexico Magazine, Sunstone Review, The American Pen, The American Bard, and more. Peter believed strongly in contributing to his community. During his years as President of the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation he raised funds for Santa Fe's first cancer treatment center. Peter passed away in Santa Fe, NM in 2016.

Extent

515 Photographs

Date

circa 1970-1976

Archival Repository

National Museum of the American Indian

Identifier

NMAI.AC.440

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Peter Dechert photographs of Pueblo Artists, image #, NMAI.AC.440; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement

Photographs arranged by artists and material type (negatives, contact sheets, and prints).

Processing Information

Collection processed by Emily Moazami, Supervisory Archivist, 2023.

Rights

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Scope and Contents

The Peter Dechert photographs of Pueblo Artists collection contains 412 negatives, 33 contact sheets, and 70 photographs documenting many Native artists of the American Southwest. The photographs were shot by photographer Peter Dechert, circa 1970-1976, and depict artists working in their studios and homes, as well as portraits of them with finished artwork. The images offer a behind-the-scenes look at artists and their artistic practices. Artists documented in this collection include: Lois Gutierrez de la Cruz (Lois Gutierrez) [Pojoaque Pueblo/K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)] Derek de la Cruz [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)] Gloria Garcia (Goldenrod) [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)/Pojoaque Pueblo] John D. Garcia [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)] Jason Garcia (Okuu Pin) [Santa Clara Pueblo] Popovi Da (Tony Martinez) [San Ildefonso Pueblo] Blue Corn (Crucita Gonzales Calabaza) [San Ildefonso Pueblo] Ramoncita Sandoval (Ramoncita Cruz) [Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo)] Santiago Quintana (Cochiti Pueblo) Minnie Vigil [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)] Stella Shutiva (Acoma Pueblo) Pula Gutierrez [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)] Val Gutierrez [K'apovi (Santa Clara Pueblo)]

Restrictions

Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Related Materials

Other collections of Peter Dechert photographs reside at the New Mexico History Museum.

Record ID

ebl-1680708600849-1680708601051-0