Timothy Asch (July 16, 1932 – October 3, 1994) was an American

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in oth ...

, and

ethnographic film An ethnographic film is a non-fiction film, often similar to a documentary film, historically shot by Western filmmakers and dealing with non-Western people, and sometimes associated with anthropology. Definitions of the term are not definitive. ...

maker. Along with

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

and Robert Gardner, Asch played an important role in the development of

visual anthropology Visual anthropology is a subfield of social anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media. More recently it has been used by historians of science ...

. He is particularly known for his film ''

The Ax Fight ''The Ax Fight'' (1975) is an ethnographic film by anthropologist and filmmaker Tim Asch and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon about a conflict in a Yanomami village called Mishimishimabowei-teri, in southern Venezuela. It is best known as an ico ...

'' and his role with the

USC Center for Visual Anthropology The USC Center for Visual Anthropology (CVA) is a center located at the University of Southern California. It is dedicated to the field of visual anthropology, incorporating visual modes of expression in the academic discipline of anthropology. It ...

Background

Asch was born in Southampton,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and attended

The Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-edu ...

. He studied at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he received his B.S. in anthropology in 1959. While at Columbia, he served as a teaching assistant for

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...

, who encouraged his work in

. From 1950-1951, he served apprenticeships with Minor White,

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

and

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

through the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

(formerly known as the California School of Fine Arts). He received his M.A. in African Studies from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

(with an anthropology concentration at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

) in 1964.

Career

Asch was known for his work as an ethnographic filmmaker on the

Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. Etymology The ethnonym ''Yanomami' ...

in conjunction with

Napoleon Chagnon Napoleon Alphonseau Chagnon (27 August 1938 – 21 September 2019) was an American cultural anthropologist, professor of sociocultural anthropology at the University of Missouri in Columbia and member of the National Academy of Sciences. Chagn ...

. He also worked in Indonesia with anthropologists Linda Connor,

James J. Fox James Joseph Fox (born 29 May 1940) is an American anthropologist and historian of Indonesia. He was educated at Harvard University (AB 1962) and Oxford University in (Social Anthropology)(B Litt. 1965, DPhil. 1968) where he was a Rhodes Scholar ...

and E. Douglas Lewis. In 1968, Asch and John Marshall co-founded

Documentary Educational Resources Documentary Educational Resources (DER) is a US non-profit producer and distributor of film and video in anthropology and ethnology. It was founded in 1968 by independent filmmakers John Marshall and Timothy Asch and is based in Watertown, Massac ...

(DER), a non-profit organization whose mission is to support, produce, and distribute ethnographic, non-fiction, and documentary films. Asch's film work continues to be distributed through DER. Asch 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, th ...

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , p ...

, and

, and was a Research Fellow at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

prior to joining the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC) in 1982. He became the Director of the '' Center for Visual Anthropology'' after the death of founder

Barbara Myerhoff Barbara Myerhoff (February 16, 1935 – January 7, 1985) was an American anthropologist, filmmaker, and founder of the Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California. Throughout her career as an anthropologist, Barb ...

. During his period at USC, he was involved with the Margaret Mead Film Festival. Asch acted as Director of the Center for Visual Anthropology up until his death from cancer on October 3, 1994

The Spring 1995 issue of ''Visual Anthropology Review'' (Vol. 11, No.1) was dedicated to Asch

Filmography

Asch was a prolific filmmaker with an extensive list of more than 70 films to his credit."Yanomamo Filmography"
, University of California, Santa Barbara Over 40 of these are short films on the

in collaboration with

. Asch made most of his films for educational classroom use. He often showed his films to students and edited them based on student feedback. In one semester, Asch edited ''The Ax Fight'' up to twenty five times to make it more understandable and ideal for teaching. He was also a proponent of using film as a research and archive tool.

Marriage and family

Asch married Patricia Wood. Together they acted as partners with other anthropologists in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

to produce films widely used in education and research. They had four children: two daughters, Caya and Kim (who was adopted from South Korea) and sons Gregory (also known as

DJ Olive DJ Olive (also known as The Audio Janitor; born Gregor Asch) is an American disc jockey and turntablist. He is known for producing music generally in the electronic genre, with strong influences of dub, and free improvisation styles. He is w ...

) and Alexander.

References

Obituaries

Zsa Zsa Gershick, "ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMMAKING PIONEER TIMOTHY ASCH DIES"
''USC News'', 17 Oct 1994, University of Southern California

External links

Documentary Educational Resources * *

Filmography {{DEFAULTSORT:Asch, Tim Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Southern California people Cultural anthropologists 1932 births 1994 deaths Visual anthropologists The Putney School alumni 20th-century American anthropologists Boston University alumni