Photographs

Series 07, Photographs, consists of photographic negatives including silver gelatin glass plate, polyester, acetate, and nitrate negatives as well images in positive format including prints and glass lantern slides. Photographs in this series are organized into subseries by image format, then into files by geographic location depicted. Earl Morris photographed the archaeological excavations under his supervision. The majority of the photographs depict sites in the process of excavation or repair, surrounding landscapes, excavated objects, and human remains. A smaller but still substantial number of photographs capture archaeological artifacts in a studio setting. People often feature in photographs either deliberately, such as through staged photographs of excavation work or group portraits, or incidentally in the course of photographing the site of excavation. These individuals are rarely named by the captions that occasionally accompany photographs. Their identities can best be discerned by consulting the documents associated with the relevant geographic area in Series 02, Fieldwork. Some photographs include Navajo/Diné individuals. These images appear most frequently in the files for Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. It is probable that Earl Morris made most of the images in this collection. Some doubt is thrown on this statement, however, by lack of knowledge of how photography was practiced in the field: it may be the case that other individuals on the excavation crew were trained in photography, as is suggested by the photographs in which Morris is himself depicted. Ann Morris, practiced at arhcaeological illustration, may have played a role in creating photo documentation as well. Some photographs within the collection of lantern slides and prints were almost certainly taken by other individuals: they depict content from institutions or sites with which Morris was more loosely associated or feature another person's name in the caption. Among these are images taken by photographer Merl LaVoy and aerial photographs taken by aviator Charles Lindbergh above Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. The same image may be found across multiple formats in this collection. For instance, a photograph of a ruin in the Gobernador district exists as a glass plate negative, a lantern slide, and a print. The exact processes that created these replicant images are unknown. It is likely that the glass, acetate, and nitrate negatives served as originals from which prints and lantern slides were derived. It is also possible, however, that nitrate and acetate negatives were themselves produced from glass plates or other formats.