Geoff Manasse photographs, 1970s-2016

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Manasse, Geoff
Title
Geoff Manasse photographs
Dates
1970s-2016 (inclusive)
Quantity
27 boxes (Slides, photographs, and negatives)
Collection Number
PH2018-016
Summary
Photographs of the Seattle area: city scenes, people and activities; also Gay and lesbian community, people with disabilities, scenes in Vietnam and California and other subjects
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access. Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Geoffrey Alan Manasse (September 9, 1950-Jan 19, 2018) was the son of Herbert and Florence Manasse. He grew up in Los Angeles where he attended Hollywood High School. He went to the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1968 to study economics where he also served as a photographer for university newspaper, The Daily Cardinal. He continued his study of economics at the University of California, Berkeley graduating in 1972. He decided to pursue photography as a career and in 1974 he became a staff photographer at the Pulitzer-Prize winning newspaper, the Riverside Press-Enterprise. In 1977, he moved to the neighboring Claremont Courier, a weekly newspaper known for its outstanding photo essays in the tradition of Life magazine. Later he was a staff photographer for the Seattle Times from 1980 to 1981 and for the Bellevue Journal-American from 1984-86.

In the northwest he became inspired by the work being done by Seattle Times Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer, Jerry Gay. He had met Gay partly through the National Press Photographers Association, for which Mr. Manasse was co-editing a regional publication. He would go on to produce photos for Gay’s Picture Magazine, and to start his own successful freelance business – Geoff Manasse Photography, which included editorial clients such as, National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Newsday, the New York Times, and USA Today.

Particularly notable among his many accomplishments was his decision to use photography to help make LGBTQ families more visible in the 1980s and 1990s when such families were often invisible – when lesbians and gay men had no right to marry and were often legally limited in their rights to adopt children. The result was a 1995 book of photographs of 24 gay and lesbian families titled Making Love Visible: In Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Families, with text by collaborator Jean Swallow.

He also documented the impact of the AIDS crisis in Seattle through the 1980s and 1990s. After his retirement, he lived for three years in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with his husband, Bao Le, where he once again used his skills as a photographer, videographer and website developer to support the growth of CARMAH, a non-profit organization promoting the health and quality of life of gay and bisexual men in Vietnam.

Besides photography, Mr. Manasse’s other passionate activities often revolved around music. He played tuba for the LGBTQ Rainbow City Band as well as the Brass Connection, a semi-pro brass quintet. He also tried his hand at writing music for the quintet, including a piece called “Gray Day” that accompanied a memorial video he made after his mother died in 2012.

Mr. Manasse died suddenly of a cardiac arrest in January, 2018 while playing soccer, a sport he loved.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographs of the Seattle area: city scenes, people and activities; also Gay and lesbian community, people with disabilities, scenes in Vietnam and California; architecture; photographs for Getty; and other photographs. Also includes model release forms.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donor: Geoffry Manasse estate: March 22, 2018; Bao Le for the Geoff Manasse estate, January 2022

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Series 1:  Photographs and negatives, 1970-2003Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
1-13
Photographs and negatives
1970-2003

Series 2:  Slides, negatives, and model release forms, 1980-2003Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
14
Art misc.
2003
14
Tuba and others
2001
14
Hannover Fall
2000
14
Peter Jones family
2001
14
Bicycle Singles Trip 1/3
July, 2002
14
Bicycle Singles Trip 2/3
July, 2002
14
Lesbians First RPSP
2002
15
Model Release Vietnam and Misc. (Vietnamese Version)
November, 2001
15
Model Release Vietnam and Misc. (English Version)
November, 2001
15
Monthly Events 01
2002
15
People Magazine
1980s
15
Portraits of African and Asian Men
September-October, 2002
15
Portraits of African and Asian Men
October-December 2002
15
IAGSDC convention orders, Anaheim
2005-2006
15
Seattle Friends Gay Pride
2002
15
Mover and Linemen
October, 2002
15
My Family 1
2001
15
Ikea
2001-2002
15
R Place
2001
15
Munich Fall
2000
16
Vietnam
November 2001
16
Australia Trip
November, 2002
16
Hamburg Fall
2000
16
Kathy Comstock and Tracy Greenwald
August 9, 1997
17
Pregnant Moms and Babies
2001
17
Winter Life
2002
17
San Diego's Models
August 31, 2003
17
Soccer and Todd
August-December 2002
17
Vietnam-Thailand Trip
November 2, 2003
17
Senior Seattle
2001
18
San Diego PV Hospital Teens
2004
18
Senior San Diego
2001

Series 3:  Prints, 1970s-2016Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
19
Landscapes and architecture
20
Travel: midwest people and places
21
Travel: personal
22
People (photodisc/Getty)
23-24
People (Getty)
25
People and negatives
26
Color prints and negatives
27
Model release forms

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African American men--Photographs
  • Asian American men--Photographs
  • Cycling--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Gay community--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Manasse, Geoff--Archives
  • Manasse, Geoff--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • California--Photographs
  • Seattle (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Vietnam--Photographs