The Mural Project: Not just Ansel Adams?

I found something new today, in one of the references from the Interior Library.  According to Ansel Adams: The National Park Service Photographs, "By 1941 a number of painters had already been commissioned to paint murals on the walls of the new Interior Department building; no photographers were originally included in the Mural Project (as the undertaking was called) because few people then judged photography to be on a par with painting" (p. 7).

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I really had no idea that all those painted works were already the Mural Project, before Adams' commission. I double-checked with the Interior Museum director and he confirmed this new information.

The Mural Project: Not just Ansel Adams?

Zotero

There's a lot to keep track of, when producing a documentary, not the least of which are the research materials.  I'm experimenting with Zotero for research management. 

Zotero is a free plugin for Firefox that helps me keep track of what books, journals, Web pages, etc., I find material in.  Later, it will format proper citations in MLA style, which is particularly helpful to me, as I'm more of an APA-oriented person.

The citations are stored locally (on whatever computer I'm using) and sync'd with Zotero's servers.  This means my citations follow me from desktop to laptop and back again -- very important, if I'm to keep them straight throughout pre-production research.

Zotero

Today, I learned something new

My research has apparently begun in earnest. Yesterday, I read a few lines that challenged a bit of what I had believed (or perhaps was led to believe) about Adams' photography for The Mural Project.

In his autobiography, Adams describes the genesis of his project as follows: First, Secretary Ickes invited him to photograph the national parks for Interior. Second, Ickes would review his pictures. Third, Ickes and Adams would jointly decide which images would be enlarged as murals. Fourth, "ownership of the negatives was to remain with [Adams], and there would be no restrictions on the future prints I could make from them."

Admittedly, Adams may not be the best source of information on his contractual arrangements with Interior. Folks do have a tendency to explain contracts in ways favorable to themselves. But in the absence of his actual contract (which I don't yet have) or a telling of this story from Ickes' perspective, it's the best source I have at this time.

I had previously heard that Adams' negatives were supposed to be provided to Interior. For now, I must assess Adams' tale as more authoritative.

On to more research!

Today, I learned something new