Sobieszek, R. (1967-1979). Nude in Advertising research files [tearsheets]. Robert Sobieszek Archive (AG 232, Box 15, Folder 15). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

The Center for Creative Photography (CCP) is the premier research destination for American photographic fine art and archives, holding over 100,000 fine prints and more than six million archival objects such as correspondence, papers, publications, photographic and audiovisual materials, and ephemera.

To date, there are more than 270 collections represented in the CCP archives, which include some of the most recognizable names in 20th century North American photography, such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Harry Callahan, Garry Winogrand, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Robert Heinecken, and Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Through the collection, CCP expands the history of photography to deepen our understanding of how the medium influences society.

There are many strengths and themes within CCP’s collection: documentary and street photography, photojournalism, fashion photography, portraiture, the body, landscape and the environment, architecture, travel, and more. While no single collection at the CCP focuses exclusively on sex, the subject inevitably surfaces, particularly when examining marginalized groups like AIDS patients and transgender people, exploring boundaries between pornography and art, and the creation of photographic erotica. Situated behind the camera, photographers often have the advantageous ability to develop trust with their models, revealing intimate and private moments.

While themes related to sex, gender, identity, sexuality, and the body can be found throughout many of the CCP’s collections, this article focuses on three archives where sex is a central concern in one or more bodies of work.  

William Mortensen (1897-1965)

Known as the “Father of Pictorialism,” William Mortensen (1897-1965) had a much different approach to photography in comparison to his contemporaries of “straight” photography. Mortensen’s background in painting, and his desire to manipulate texture, is evident in his photography. In addition to Hollywood glamour portraits, Mortensen focused a lot of his career on dramatic, illustrative narratives often centered around the female nude and described as macabre or “grotesque erotica.” He pushed boundaries by shocking the audience with sexually charged photographs. Mortensen’s wife, Myrdith Mortensen, was a great influence and inspiration in his work as she often served as muse and model. Her portraits are throughout Mortensen’s published and unpublished work, including the collection at the CCP.

Mortensen, W. (n.d.). Photographs of Myrdith Mortensen [photographs]. William Mortensen Collection (AG 147, Box 14). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

Mortensen started his career in the film industry after moving to Los Angeles in 1921, where he painted sets, made masks, and photographed silent film stars for the Western Costume Company. By 1926, he had his own studio and was the photographer for Cecil B. De Mille’s The King of Kings. His career in Hollywood was taking off and he was a highly sought after photographer, especially by aspiring actresses. Mortensen frequently photographed these women nude, which caused controversy on the set of King Kong, and resulted in Hollywood blacklisting him. He then moved to Laguna Beach, California and opened the Mortensen School of Photography. Not only excluded from the film industry, his status in the photographic community was also turbulent as his counterparts outright criticized his approach to photography. Ansel Adams, in particular, loathed Mortensen’s work and the two had a long-standing feud, with Adams going as far as to call Mortensen the “anti-Christ” of photography (Larry Lytle, "The Command to Look: The Story of William Mortensen, Part I").

Mortensen, W. (1926). Preparation for the Sabbat [silver gelatin photograph]. Mortensen/ Dunham Collection (AG 43). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

While many excluded William Mortensen from their version of history of photography, his legacy lives on with renewed energy and interest. In 1993, the CCP received a large quantity of Mortensen’s work, now housed in the same building alongside some of his adversaries. The archive contains correspondence, personal papers, manuscripts by and about Mortensen, publications, photographic materials, and posthumous materials. In addition to negatives and prints, there is information about the Mortensen School of Photography, his wife, Myrdith, and a robust collection of signed model releases. Also within the archive, are unpublished manuscripts, essays, published articles and monographs that address the subject of the female body. He also published books describing his own theories about photography, such as Monsters & Madonnas, A Book of Methods.

Mortensen, W. (n.d.). Paper negative [photograph]. William Mortensen Collection (AG 147, Box 26). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

In addition to the William Mortensen archive, there are related archives at the CCP, including the Mortensen/ Dunham collection, the Mortensen Miscellaneous collection, and the archives of several of his students: Robert Balcomb, Anson Beman, Ralph Hosenpud, Ben Maxey, and Grey Silva. Overall, the William Mortensen archive and related archives at the CCP provide ample research materials for those interested in sexuality, sexism, eroticism, the occult, and other similar themes.

Brian Weil (1954-1996)

Brian Weil (1954-1996) was a photographer who committed his career to documenting marginalized populations. In addition to the lasting impact he made on those he worked with, Weil pushed forward photography’s capacity to acknowledge social injustice and influence change. Weil’s personal interests and activism are reflected in his work as a photographer, including his work on subjects of sex, drug addiction, AIDS, gender identity, homicide, and Hasidic Judaism. Weil achieved consummate access to subcultures and ostracized communities by fully immersing himself in his surroundings and connecting with the culture he was documenting. (Brian Weil, 1979–1995: Being in the World)

Weil, B. (1987). Trans Safe-Sex Outreach Worker, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic [silver gelatin photograph]. Brian Weil Archive (AG 175, Box 37). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

One of Weil’s earliest projects was funded in 1979 by the Creative Artists Public Service Program. Weil was interested in fetish practices, including bondage and bestiality, and intimately explored this idea by placing personal ads in local underground publications. In 1985, he became personally involved in AIDS activism, as many of his friends were struggling with HIV and AIDS. Weil volunteered with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, and later joined ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). Through ACT UP, Weil helped form a needle exchange committee to help decriminalize needle possession but also to provide safer injections, drug treatment options, and safe sex education. His deep attachment to the AIDS epidemic spilled over into his career as a documentary photographer, and his final project culminated in 65 portraits taken around the world in various settings such as sex clubs, hospitals, and military bases.

Weil, B. (1987). Safe Sex [35mm negatives]. Brian Weil Archive (AG 175, Box 18). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

By the early 1990s, Weil engaged himself with the transgender community; he interviewed and photographed more than a dozen participants who were willing and eager to share their stories. One particular project documented Susan, a transwoman and military veteran, and her gender transformation process, both pre- and post-surgery.

In 1996, Weil died of a heroin overdose, leaving much of this work unfinished. Three years later, the CCP received the Brian Weil archive on loan; it was donated to the Center in 2003. Within the Brian Weil archive, there are 44 boxes of materials, which include papers relating to his photographic career, exhibition files, photographic materials including prints, negatives, slides, and audiovisual materials, including interviews with Weil and many of his subjects. Of particular note are interviews with Brian Weil surrounding an exhibition of his AIDS photographs organized by the International Center of Photography. In general, the Brian Weil archive provides a holistic and intimate approach to research in the realm of social documentary photography.

Weil, B. (n.d., 1992). Interviews [audiovisual materials]. Brian Weil Archive (AG 175, Box 11). Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

Alexis Peregoy is an associate archivist at the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography. She previously worked at the Modern Graphic History Library at Washington University in St. Louis. After earning a BA in art history, Alexis earned her MSI from the University of Michigan and MA in Museum Studies from the Johns Hopkins University. She has a deep interest in art and visual culture education and research, and continues her studies at the University of Arizona School of Art.