Peter C. Bunnell
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Peter Curtis Bunnell (October 25, 1937 – September 20, 2021) was an American author, scholar and historian of photography. For more than 40 years he had a significant impact on collecting, exhibiting, teaching and practicing photography through his work as a university professor, museum curator and prolific author.


Early life and education

Peter Curtis Bunnell was born on October 25, 1937, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He received an undergraduate degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied with photographer Minor White, and an M.F.A. from
Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, where he studied with Clarence H. White Jr., the son of the pictorial photographer Clarence Hudson White. Originally intending to pursue fashion photography, it was his exposure to White that drew him to reconsider photography as a vehicle for personal artistic expression. White became a mentor to Bunnell and recruited him to join the staff of
Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...
Aperture (magazine), the only periodical produced for and by photographers practicing the medium as fine art. Bunnell gradually transitioned from being a photographer to studying the medium and its history, but his interest in – and friendship with – White endured until White's passing in 1976.https://www.phillips.com/detail/minor-white/NY040123/229 He then went on to receive an M.A. degree in art history from
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, and later became an associate in the
Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
Archive at the university.


Life and career

Bunnell joined the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
staff in New York in 1966, on a temporary assignment to review and catalogue its collection of photographs, and in 1968 became Associate Curator of the Department of Photography. In 1970 he was named the Curator of the Department of Photography at the Museum. Two years later he was invited to teach at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
and was given the position of David Hunter McAlpin Professor of the History of Photography and Modern Art. This was the first
endowed professor A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are o ...
ship in the history of photography in the United States. That same year he curated a show at the museum called ''Photography into Sculpture'', the first comprehensive survey of photographically formed images used in a sculptural manner. The show has been called "one of the great contributions to the history of photography" due to its intent to redefine photography in a new spatial concept. From 1973 to 1978 Bunnell was also the Director of the
Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...
, where he helped build the collection of photographic holdings into "one of the great North American teaching collections." He later served as Curator of the Minor White Archive and as Curator of Photography at Princeton University Art Museum. In 1979 he was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for further study of the history of photography. Bunnell received a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council in 1984 that enabled him to travel and lecture extensively in Japan. He returned briefly to Japan in 1995 as a consultant to the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. He later taught at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
,
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, Yale University and the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
. Bunnell became the acknowledged expert on Minor White's work, and his 1989 book Minor White: The Eye That Shapes still stands as the most complete single source of information on the photographer. In 2002, Bunnell retired from his post at Princeton. That same year the
U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
issued a set of postage stamps called ''Masters of American Photography'' featuring photographers and images selected by Bunnell. In 2011, Princeton University announced the endowment of the Peter C. Bunnell Curatorship in Photography. In April 2019, Bunnell donated about 110 archival boxes of materials from his personal archive (Peter C. Bunnell Papers) to the Manuscripts Division of the Princeton University Library. The papers donated to the Library complemented a separate gift to the Princeton University Art Museum of more than 30 years of his correspondence and other materials relating to its Minor White and Clarence H. White archival collections.


Death

Bunnell died on September 20, 2021, in
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
, following a lengthy illness. He was 83.


Collection

In April 2023
Phillips Phillips may refer to: Businesses Energy * Chevron Phillips Chemical, American petrochemical firm jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. * ConocoPhillips, American energy company * Phillips 66, American energy company * Phil ...
New York auctioned 38 lots entitled A REVERENCE FOR BEAUTY: THE PETER C. BUNNELL COLLECTION. The "remarkable selection of photographs" offered the auction sale's proceeds will be distributed to six institutions with whom Bunnell was associated — Rochester Institute of Technology, Ohio University, Yale University, The George Eastman Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and Princeton University Art Museum — to establish endowments to support the study of photographic history. Bunnell's print of '' Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico'' (1941) was the highest-priced photograph of the auction for an above-estimate $381,000. Bunnell was gifted the large format print from Adams in August 1959 after they had become friends. Diane Arbus's Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967 sold for $215,900, and a selection by
Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...
brought $53,340 - just shy of triple the high estimate. Garry Winogrand's ''World's Fair, New York City'' (1964) for $40,640. Also represented in his personal collection were works by
Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...
,
Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...
, and of course, his mentor Minor White.


Publications

*''Jerry N. Uelsmann: An Aperture Monograph'' (1970) *''Barbara Morgan'' (1972) *''Nonsilver Printing Processes: Four Selections 1886–1927'' (1973) *''Harry Callahan'' (1978) *''Altered Landscapes: The Photographs of John Pfahl'' (1981) *''Edward Weston on Photography'' (1983) *''Clarence H. White: The Reverence for Beauty'' (1986) *''Minor White: The Eye That Shapes'' (1989) *''A Photographic Vision: Pictorial Photography 1889-192''3 (1980) *''Emmet Gowin: Photographs 1966–1983'' (1983) *''EW:100. Centennial Essays in Honor of Edward Weston'' (1986) *''Light Years: The Friends of Photography 1967-198''5 (1987) *''Alfred Stieglitz: Photographs from the Collection of Georgia O’Keeffe'' (1993) ISBN *''Degrees of Guidance: Essays on Twentieth-Century American Photography'' (1993) *''Ruth Bernhard: The Collection of Ginny Williams'' (1993) *''Photography at Princeton: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting and Teaching the History of Photography'' (1998) *''Edward Ranney Photographs: The John B. Elliott Collection'' (2003) *''Michael Kenna: A Twenty Year Retrospective'' (2003) *''Inside the Photograph: Writings on Twentieth-Century Photography'' (2006) *''Eye Mind Spirit: The Enduring Legacy of Minor White'' (2009) *''Walter Chappell: Eternal Impermanence'' (2013)


Exhibitions curated


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunnell, Peter 1937 births 2021 deaths Writers from Poughkeepsie, New York Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Ohio University alumni Princeton University faculty Historians of photography American art curators Directors of museums in the United States Photography academics Photography critics Photography curators