Temporal Sequences: the Record in Minor White's Portland Photography, 1937-1942

Dr. Kenneth Hawkins will present an overview of Minor White's work as "creative photographer" for the Federal Art Project and Oregon Art Project of the U.S. Works Progress Administration. White photographed the cast-iron fronted buildings in the city's former business center as they fell to mass demolition, the city's working riverfront, and houses small and grand.

Dr. Hawkins compiled the first inventory of White's original WPA negatives at the Oregon Historical Society in 1978, and in 2016 helped the Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum, describe its holdings of White's Portland works. His presentation will show how White used technique and artistry to create enduring records of Portland's past, and how the series of negatives and prints in these repositories and others comprise sequences that provide insight into his career, architectural loss, and historical memory.

This is the first of two special lectures in conjunction with the AHC exhibit: Parting Shots: Minor White's Images of Portland, 1938-1942.

This lecture program is held at the Architectural Heritage Center - 701 SE Grand Avenue

Parking is on-street (free on Saturdays) or in the parking lot on the west side of Grand Avenue between SE Yamhill and Belmont Streets - just to the north of the Grand Marketplace. Do not use the lot where Dutch Bros. Coffee is located. Thank you to Bolliger and Sons Insurance for sharing their lot with us for our evening and Saturday education programs.

Image: Courtesy of Oregon Historical Society