Nancy Hunter Warren Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: PAAC-0054
Scope and Content
Collection consists of about 10,000 35mm negatives, 2.25x2.25 negatives, contact sheets and black and white prints stored in boxes by basic subject and date range.
Dates
- 1970 - 2003
Creator
- Warren, Nancy Hunter, 1932-2019 (Photographer, Person)
Language of Materials
English
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to researchers on a request basis only, pending approval of request to view original material.
Copy Restrictions
User responsible for all copyright compliance. Permission to publish must be obtained from Photo Archives. Form to request permission available at: https://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/collections/photo-archives/order-photos
Biography / History
In 2003 Nancy Hunter Warren began to lose her eyesight. In order to preserve her photographic work she donated her entire archive to the Palace of the Governors Photo Archive.
Warren trained as an anthropologist at the University of Delaware. In the early 1970s, she accepted a position as an anthropologist at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She became aware that over time “photography became the focus of my life.” While continuing her work, she became the Laboratory’s photographer, devoting her time to photographing both archeological and ethnographic images of Northern New Mexico and the Southwest. Later, Warren was also chief photographer for New Mexico’s Department of Cultural Affairs Office of Archaeological Studies.
Warren has always been a Leica photographer with occasional use of a Hasselblad. She is also primarily a black and white photographer, but in the 1980s did some color work. It was her habit to drive on the often narrow and unpaved roads to farms and towns and villages in Northern New Mexico to shoot. She often returned again and again to get the perfect photograph of a single site or ceremony. One of her triumphs is a series of images of a Penitente (Spanish for one who does penance) morada (Spanish for abode), in some cases even being allowed to photograph during services.
Warren’s projects developed over time, but unfortunately names of people, places and dates were recorded poorly or not at all. For this reason the collection suffers from a lack of citation information and there is no recourse given her visual handicap. The collection of work does however document New Mexico at a point in time when great changes were taking place and for this reason the collection is a worthy research tool.
Warren is mentioned in a list of the New Mexico Centennial 100 best books written about New Mexico and is also one of the artists who has written about Taos in the New Mexico Centennial - Remarkable Women of Taos project. Warren has published many articles and books illustrating the land and people as well as the ceremonies and culture of Northern New Mexico. Her work, which she describes as “anthropological photo essays,” has also been in many exhibits in the southwest.
Warren trained as an anthropologist at the University of Delaware. In the early 1970s, she accepted a position as an anthropologist at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She became aware that over time “photography became the focus of my life.” While continuing her work, she became the Laboratory’s photographer, devoting her time to photographing both archeological and ethnographic images of Northern New Mexico and the Southwest. Later, Warren was also chief photographer for New Mexico’s Department of Cultural Affairs Office of Archaeological Studies.
Warren has always been a Leica photographer with occasional use of a Hasselblad. She is also primarily a black and white photographer, but in the 1980s did some color work. It was her habit to drive on the often narrow and unpaved roads to farms and towns and villages in Northern New Mexico to shoot. She often returned again and again to get the perfect photograph of a single site or ceremony. One of her triumphs is a series of images of a Penitente (Spanish for one who does penance) morada (Spanish for abode), in some cases even being allowed to photograph during services.
Warren’s projects developed over time, but unfortunately names of people, places and dates were recorded poorly or not at all. For this reason the collection suffers from a lack of citation information and there is no recourse given her visual handicap. The collection of work does however document New Mexico at a point in time when great changes were taking place and for this reason the collection is a worthy research tool.
Warren is mentioned in a list of the New Mexico Centennial 100 best books written about New Mexico and is also one of the artists who has written about Taos in the New Mexico Centennial - Remarkable Women of Taos project. Warren has published many articles and books illustrating the land and people as well as the ceremonies and culture of Northern New Mexico. Her work, which she describes as “anthropological photo essays,” has also been in many exhibits in the southwest.
Extent
10 Linear Feet
Creator
- Warren, Nancy Hunter, 1932-2019 (Photographer, Person)
- Title
- Nancy Hunter Warren Photograph Collection, 1970 - 2003
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- DK
- Date
- © 2012
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 07/25/2024: Revised by CD as part of the finding aid update project, 2024
Repository Details
Part of the NMHM Palace of the Governors Photo Archives Repository