Photo Archive

All these collections have artifactual value for the history of photography, as well as documentary value for the study and research of their specific subject. Some of the collections have a particular historical and archaeological significance because the photographs record excavations and monuments from the early years of modern archaeology.

The photograph collections of the American Academy have been acquired over the years mainly through donations. They represent an exceptional document of the activity of considerable personalities, master photographers as well as scholars, active from the second half of the 19th century (Parker collection), to the beginning of the 20th century (Moscioni, Van Deman and Askew collections), and more recently (Masson and Bini collections). In recent years (2002-2007) the Academy has accepted new gifts, such as the Vermeule collection (Greek and Roman antiquities), the Aronson collection (aerial views of Rome), the Knauer collection (monumental sites in the Mediterranean area and in Northern Europe), the McCann collection (Cosa port excavations and excavations at Pyrgi and Populonia), and the Ludwig collection (Reinassance marble tomb reliefs).

Other special collections include the Berman collection of scenography and theater costume design. The Fellows' Work collection is of great value for the Academy's institutional history; as it documents the individual and collaborative projects of Fellows and Visitors in the School of Fine Arts at the American Academy in Rome (1910-1958). Contemporary photography is represented by an exceptional gift: the architect Toshiko Mori and architectural photographer Paul Warchol donated seven photographs depicting the House on the Gulf of Mexico II, Casey Key (FL). Toshiko also donated a suite of photographs by Abigail Cohen.

The A Question of Time Collection consists of contemporary images shot by eleven international photographers inspired by the permanent collection of the Photographic Archive of the American Academy in Rome. The project focused on images of Rome and of the famous Campagna Romana (exhibition held at the American Academy in Rome in 2009 and 2010).

In addition to its own collections, the American Academy also houses the Fototeca Unione founded by Ernest Nash in 1957. The Fototeca Unione began with the donation of Nash's own archive to the International Union of Institutes of Archaeology, History and History of Art. It is a growing collection focusing on the architecture and topography of the Roman world. As part of its mission, the Photo Archive of the American Academy in Rome provides online access to digital versions of selected materials from its collections for educational, research, and publishing purposes. The site includes over 5,000 photographic images.

Individual images of the American Academy in Rome, Cosa, Gatteschi, Masson, Parker, and Regia collections are available in digital form: Database .

To view sample images from the various collections, visit the Index to the Collections.

Funding

Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The Getty Foundation.