Gilbert W. (Gil) Arias is a photographer and photojournalist in Washington State. Arias earned a degree in biomedical photography from Bellevue Community College in 1980 and worked as an editorial and commercial photographer in California and Washington before starting as a fulltime photographer and lab manager at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper in 1981. Over his 28-year career at the P-I, Arias covered a variety of assignments, from daily news, sports, entertainment, and food stories to long-term and investigative projects. Among the latter are two multi-part series on mining, with photographs taken by Arias from September through November 1999 in Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Colorado. The series are: "Uncivil Action: A Town Left to Die," published in late 1999, which chronicles the effects vermiculite mining on the small town of Libby, Montana; and "Mining of the West: Profit and Pollution on Public Lands," an investigation into the legacy of the 1872 federal mining law, published in June 2001.
Gil Arias left the P-I when the paper closed its print run in 2009, and as of 2024 he continues to reside and take photographs in Washington State.
The collection is comprised largely of photographs, dated 1953 through early 2002. Most of the photos (1981-2002) were taken when Gil Arias worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and most are in the form of 35 mm black and white and color negatives, transparencies, and slides, with a small number of photographic prints dispersed throughout the collection. Negatives dated prior to Arias' employment with the PI in 1981 are early photos by Arias, or photographs by other P-I photographers collected by Arias. Some of the envelopes also include proof sheets, Associated Press wirephoto copies of Arias photographs, or caption sheets with information about individual photographs. Subjects include views of Seattle and other Washington State locations; sports including basketball, football, baseball, and fishing; and news stories about various individuals, issues, and events in Seattle and Washington State. Many of the subjects of the photographs are listed in the inventory below. These subjects were transcribed from notes written by Arias on negative envelopes and sleeves; however, the subjects of many photographs have not been identified.
The collection also includes a small amount of ephemera collected or created by Gil Arias, mostly related to long-term projects, including notes, maps, and business cards.
The folders are arranged in chronological order by year, with a few arranged by months within a year.
The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
The collection is open to the public by appointment.
Gilbert W. Arias Photographs, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Gift of Gilbert W. Arias, received in November 2020.
MOHAI also holds collections of photographs by other former Seattle Post-Intelligencer photographers: Cary W. Tolman Collection (2002.68); Robert H. Miller Collection (2002.46); John Vallentyne Collection (2009.23).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Subjects include: Ivar Haglund, 1953-62; Elgin Baylor, 59; Jona and Ed O’Brien, basketball playing twins for Seattle University; Leo Hagopian.
Early images include negatives by other PI photographers collected by Arias.
Subjects include: Medical; underwater; self-portraits; zoo; swans
Mostly Sonics basketball games; also includes some baseball and football
Subjects include: Mitchell Rupe, James Yee, F. Lee Bailey, aerial views from Space Needle, Public Market.
Includes Seattle people and places; skylines and city views.
Subjects include: Medical Ex; CLO Monkey; Veteran’s day; Willie Mak [Wah Mee]; Café Loc; Tony Ng-1984 [Wah Mee]; Senator Maggie / Royer; Q.E.; Bus strike, Kwan Fai [Wah Mee]; Vice President George Bush; Sen. Gary Hart; storyteller Jackie Torrance; Joel Pritchard; Ronnie Gilbert and Holly Near; Gov. Spellman; outside Post-Intelligencer building.
Subjects include Otter Crash West Seattle; Street people under Viaduct; USS Fife; Shelton Correction Center; Bumbershoot; Booth Garner; Oceanus Carrier; Vietnam Veterans memorial; Charles Manatt; Frederick & Nelson fashion; Turf Club; Ed Meese; Ivar Haglund; Rod Chandler; Muhammad Ali.
"Selects" refer to a selection made by the photographer of favorite images. Subjects include Ruth Neslund; Arco oil spill Port Angeles; Chinatown parade; Colman School [occupation]; Mayor Royer; Norm Rice; Mike Lowry.
Boxers and boxing matches.
Photographs taken over the course of one day. Folder includes handwritten notes on subjects.
"Selects" refer to a selection made by the photographer of favorite images. Subject include firefighters; Ballard locks; Twin Teepees; Burger Box; Bob’s Java Jive; Christmas trees; T. Kennedy; commercial salmon fish; Hat N Boots; Seattle sunset.
Mostly Sonics basketball; also includes football and hydroplanes.
Envelope 23 contains mostly images of the construction of the new Post-Intelligencer building and the removal of the PI globe.
Subjects include Ray Lewis; Howard Roberts; Kevin Coe; Sen. Gordon; Ron Golubiec; Gideon Israel.
Subjects include Sonic; Seahawks; USS Constellation; Indian gillnetter Merle Barr (Muckleshoot); Bob Blackburn; Bernie Bickerstaff; Betty Tate, Aryan Nation; PI Globe, offices, and new building.
Subjects include Ice fish; Ralph Flowers; Blue Chip; Skip Davis; Jack Hughes; John Maynard
Subjects include Bite of Seattle; skateboarders; Metro bus tunnel work; Sonics and other NBA; Archbishop Ray Hunthausen; Total Experience Choir-A.N.C. 75th Anniversary; Jack Lyon (barber); Green River bones (discovery of victim Cindy Ann Smith); Dan Davison – Airlift Northwest; Rocky Spencer and Elk.
Subjects include: Mariners; Hydros; Mexican tall ship Cuauhtemoc; Colman dock; Seattle Center; Ruth Sutherland; Husky Stadium; Peter Veberroth.
Subjects include Ed Broomfield; Seattle fireworks; USS Fly Fish; Lake Grotto; sheep and elk; Mariners; UW basketball; Sonics; Longacres; Supercross
Subjects include Mariners; Jimmy Carter; Jerilyn Brusseau,
Subjects include Includes UW basketball games; eagles at Woodland Park zoo; Fisherman’s terminal; Orting bell; Orting tulips; Mt. Rainier; Mt. St. Helens; Elbe train; Aberdeen; AIDS walks, Weyerhauser trees; Tacoma Boys Club; Hilltop (Tacoma); LPGA; Tomas Villanueva; Longacres; Yakima; Goodwill Games; Snoqualmie Falls; Eli Wang; Sonics; Reagan; Leland Faulkner; Clearwater; William Bennett
"Selects" refer to a selection made by the photographer of favorite images.
Subjects include Lamoureux; Puyallup-Tire Co.; Maddox; Upper Elwha; George Weyerhauser; Ann & Nancy Wilson; Ballard Bitters; VP Quayle; WSU cows; Hanford; Howard Hanson Dam; Japanese Women’s College; Puyallup Indians; needle exchange; steam plant; schools; basketball (men and women’s); Jessie Walker and David Barfield; Mariners; McChord AFB; Seattle Center, Tacoma school kid, Seattle fire, small trains Orting, Easton logging; Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson; Meany middle school.
Subjects include Olympia, Polar bears, Tom Robbins, Puyallup fire, Miles Davis, Norm Rice, Redmond Velodrome, Joe Foster, Mt. Rainier, Spotted Owl, Puyallup Tires, Mary Leitka, Tess Gallagher; Seattle steam plant; Windsurfer off Alki; Roy Bodine old fisherman; George Foreman; flooding Cedar River; WWI vet; Puyallup tulips; Mt. Rainier.
Subjects include World War II POW; Tacoma saw mill; Fisherman’s Terminal; War protestors at Capitol; loggers; Ivan (gorilla); High Angle rescue team, Tim Hill; Chilly Hilly bike race; Simpson paper mill; Chinese New Year; Muckleshoot tribe members protesting traffic deaths along highway through reservation
Subjects include Richard Cochran’s funeral; Memorial Day; fashion; teachers’ protest in Olympia; compost; Stearman biplane; Baxter Black; oil spill, cats; jet ski; Union Square.
Subjects include hydros; Raymond Hunthausen; President Woo of Korea; ship fire; Blackhawk; music hall; P-Patch; Cellular One; Craig McCaw; Puyallup Fair; Cowboy Poets; boxer Joe Hipp; Colman School; school kids; Fort Lewis; Whidbey Island.
Subjects include Russians in church; Skip Wright at Bailey Boushay, unhoused people; Ilwaco fisherman; Snohomish plane crash; AIDS quilt.
Subjects include health care; Sherry Bockwinkle; term limits; Boeing flight simulator; Sonics practice; Jerry Brown; Max McYoung; Skagit River; oil spill clean up; children at Puyallup Fair; opening day boat season; Port of Seattle crane operator.
Men's and women's basketball at UW; High School basketball State
West regional semifinals and finals at Kingdome, teams UNLV, Seton Hall, Arizona, Utah.
Subjects include UW basketball; West Point & lighthouse; Amelia and Ricardo Garza (KDNA FM) Spanish language radio/the Hispanic vote; William Haley (Alex Haley’s son); Sonics basketball; John Lane, Jr.; Bob Pepper; St. Patrick’s Day; Olympic Wildlife Rescue; Michael Dixon (brother of Aaron and Elmer)
Subjects include Mike Lowry; Margaret Greene (Samish); ROTC cadets at Fort Lewis; Pride parade; Governor Gardner; Longacres; Seahawks football; Tana Wood (Walla Walla warden); Mariners; NBL All-Stars; homeschooling; homeless rally; Ross Perot rally and campaign in TV studio; Dan Quayle
Subjects include Windsurfers; fires; Mariners, Sonics; Blue Angels; Kent pipeline; Larry Kangas; William Dwyer USDA inspectors at SeaTac airport; homeschoolers
Subjects include Farm workers; rancher E. Washington; Pride parade; young ballet dancers; Sklallam canoe journey; E `coli; NW ballet
Largely about Yakima farm workers.
Subjects include Sonics; getaway; Mark Shogren (kites); Gary Payton/Michael Jordan; canvas hat; Old Soldiers home-Orting; Sonics; fishing; INS.
Images of parents of Scott O'Grady, USAF pilot shot down over Bosnia and later rescued
Subjects include King County Fair; Chief Seattle grave; Sonics; hatchery, Ballard Locks; Lake Sammamish Chinook.
Photographs taken during a 19 day trip traveling the border from Port Roberts, WA to Campobello Island, New Brunswick for “Traveling the Border” series of articles published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in October-November 1997.
Subjects include Mariner's Spring Training; Thunderbird hockey; fall colors; Ellen Hayden; Fisherman’s Terminal; girls basketball; Aaron Brown; Bend, OR; Sonics; USS Lincoln.
Photographs of plant and equipment, and plant director Lilly Tellefson.
Photographs seem to be from one farming business. Includes several named individuals: Terry Houtz, Richard Thompson, Jean Hoffman, Jim White, Bob Hickman. Also Control Room, Barn, Farm.
Fishing in the Wenatchee River.
Subjects include Snoqualmie area (Falls, Wallace River, Ridge); Sonics and Husky Basketball; Earth Day; Sockeye salmon; ice patterns, fish head; Lake Chelan; Pier 66; Mariners.
Subjects include
Subjects include Dan Wilson; Larry Ralston; Mariners; Lucas Parks; Sonics; Teri Lafnitzegger, Nisqually, ET – Wallen, Holly Reed and walrus E.T. (Port Defiance Zoo); Dr. Foster (Woodland Park Zoo).
This series of photographs documents mining, environmental concerns, and health consequences related to mines in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. Locations include the Crown Jewel gold mine in Oroville, WA; Lamefoot gold mine in Republic ,WA; Thompson Creek, Stibnite, and Grouse Creek mines in Idaho; contamination in Coeur D'Alene, ID, affecting Coeur D'Alene tribe members; mines in Yellow Pine, ID; contamination cleanup in Kellogg, ID; mines in Hidden Chapel, MT; Zortman and Landusky mines affecting tribe members on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana; mining contamination in Libby, MT; and the San Luis mine in Colorado. The photographs were published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in two series: "Uncivil Action: A Town Left to Die," published in late 1999, which chronicles the effects vermiculite mining on the small town of Libby, Montana; and "Mining of the West: Profit and Pollution on Public Lands," an investigation into the legacy of the 1872 federal mining law, published in June 2001.
Subjects include end of summer; pileated woodpecker; Space Dancers; police dog death; Charles Ainslie; Cat Tales Zoo; Gerard Tsutakawa; Kalakala; Eddie Vedder at City Council meeting for Teen Dance Ordinance; Sounder train; Puyallup Fair.
Subjects include Tonasket School kids; Sonics; King fishing near Hanford; pumpkin farm; UW swimming; charter school.
Subjects include pelican in Newport; baby seals.
Subjects include Mud slide (2/01/01); Hop Sing Tong (2/04/01); Fumiko Hayashida (3/16/01); Dog show (2/4/01); Alki skater (3/21/01); Locke (3/12-26/01); Hoh River (2/9/01); Busted (3/7/01); 3/25/01 Seattle new stadium (3/25/01).
Subjects include Harbor Steps (4-10-01); Keola Alwana (4-3-01); Charlie Tailfeathers (4-13-01); Auburn Boys and Girls Club (4/25/01); Larry Awana; Kelsey Haywahe.
Subjects include Kalakala; Lake Washington; Denny Blaine park turtle; monks at Fremont troll; St. Mary’s; Seafair International District parade; Lake Crescent; Fan Yang (bubble performer); Habitat for Humanity blitz build in Snoqualmie; Night Out Queen Anne; Jason Trachtenburg; Ken Longley; Mary Klein sand sculptor; tamadua “Hoover” at Port Defiance Zoo; Joseph Kondro
Subjects include . Paul Arnold; Ted Abernathy; 9/11 tributes at Puyallup Fairgrounds and Alki Beach; Bumbershoot; Puyallup Fair; protest against police violence; Jimi Hendrix house; pumpkin patch; Japanese TV crew at Mariners game; fish; salmon; Lillian Gideon.
Subjects include Lake Sammamish mud slide; Seattle Girls’ School; Woody Jackson (Catfish Corner); Somali INS protest; WTO protest; Mt. Rainier; Santa Soldiers (12-04-01); Chum - Seattle Aquarium (12-05-01); Sonics at Children’s Hospital; Ken Horton; Frank (91) and Ellie (86) Darulis
Compact disc containing 15 digital images (digital copies or originals) selected by Arias from his work for 2001.
Subjects include Faith Ireland; Snoqualmie Falls; truck crash; Redmond fire; Includes men fishing (3/30) and Fort Flagler and Fort Casey (5/29); US Coast Guard; Yakima River trip (fishing)
Mariners and Seahawks
Subjects include UW Husky football; PI globe; Crosby, Stills, and Nash concert; PI paper boy; Golden Gloves, 1983; Seattle downtown views; strawberry picking.
Subjects include Pike Place Farmer's Market; Smith Tower; Space Needle; scenic views; strawberry picking.
Three envelopes labeled "Portfolio" contain a selection of favorite photograph separated by format: black & white transparencies mounted and unmounted, and color transparencies.
Unidentified internegatives and snapshots.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer proofsheets for photographs on Arias's 2001 Selects compact disc in collection.
AP Picturedesk proofsheets for Arias images published by the Associated Press.
Wirephoto clips of Arias photos published by the Associated Press.
Notes, permission forms, clippings and other documentation related to a story on the Rainier School habilitation center for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, located in Buckley, Washington.
Notes, road maps, and other ephemera from a trip to investigate environmental concerns in mines in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. Includes a copy of the 2-part Special Report "Uncivil action: A town left to die" and follow-up articles published in November-December 1999, about the effects of asbestos from a vermiculite mine on the people in Libby, Montana.
Notes, road maps, receipts, and other ephemera related to trips taken for "Traveling the Border" story in 1997, and "Uncivil Action" story about health effects from mining on residents of Libby, Montana.
Largely business cards and other contact information collected by Arias.