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Maxwell Allara Photographs, 1947-1970s

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Allara, Maxwell, 1906-1981
Title
Maxwell Allara Photographs
Dates
1947-1970s (inclusive)
Quantity
20 photographic prints; 144 contact sheets (2 boxes)
Negatives - 21/4, 4x5, 35mm (1 box)
Collection Number
PH1646
Summary
Photographs of the Oregon coast, Portland, California, Southwest, and portraiture exhibited in shows
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

Selected images can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

My camera is a tool to record light and open up new doors of visual experience. Massimino Frederico Allara.

Maxwell Allara (May 29, 1906-1981) was born in Tonco, Italy as Massimino Frederico Allara. He came to the US at the age of three with his parents and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He left to study for a year at the University of California, Berkeley and then attended the California School of Fine Arts. During the 1930s he worked as a magazine photo-illustrator for the Globe Picture Agency in New York City. He returned to Portland in the late 1930s and worked as the display manager for the Meier & Frank department store where he met his future wife, Helen Luhr. He became an American citizen and joined the army to serve in the Pacific in World War II. He was wounded in action and listed as missing. In 1945, he married Helen and they opened the Allara Studio on 35th and Division Street as partners. Later, in 1950, they moved their business to their house on Clintion Street. Besides their commercial work, they also created artistic photography as well as oil and watercolor paintings.

He became more interested in photography as a form of expression. He became a life-long member of the Camera Club of Oregon which included photographers Ray Atkinson, Al Monner, Stacy Wong, and others. He also joined the Oregon Society of Artists. His professional photography appeared regularly in the Oregon Journal; his more artistic work appeared in the influential photography magazine Aperture. As a member of the Oregon Society of Artists, he exhibited his photography in a number of shows around Oregon in association with "Group 15" during 1958-1959. At these shows he learned about the work and philosophy of Minor White. Allara shared Minor White's philosophy that a photograph was more than a simple image. Allara echoed this idea in believing that the image became more than "just the subject matter." In 1960 Minor White organized a group of Portland based photographers into the Advanced Interim Workshop Group. Allara was a assistant to Minor White from 1960-1965. He also became friends with the photographer, Brett Weston, the son of the famous photographer, Edward Weston. He continued to operate his studio and exhibit until his death in 1981.

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Content Description

Photographs of the Oregon coast, Portland, California, Southwest, and portraiture exhibited in shows

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Other Descriptive Information

Forms part of the Pacific Northwest Photographers Archive (PNPA).

The collection is made from some random materials left over after the photographer's death and unfortunately does not represent the quality of his work. Most of it is made up of contact sheets. There is an accompanying document about a donation of his prints to the Portland Art Museum which is illustrated with his work and shows the quality of it. There are also some nice examples of his commercial work in the collection. Dates for the contact sheets are not always accurate. He would often put one date on his contact sheet and another date on his negatives. He also was often unclear in his identifications of place.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

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

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Donor: Mitchell Allara, 2018; Bill Rhoads (2 photographs), March 2022; Bill Rhoads (152 photographs), January 2023.

Processing Note

Processed by Nicolette Bromberg, 2022.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2022 (Last modified: 3/11/2024)

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