Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Geoff Manasse photographs, 1970s-2016
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Manasse, Geoff
- Title
- Geoff Manasse photographs
- Dates
- 1970s-2016 (inclusive)19702016
- 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
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 |