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Team Norsigian Accentuates the Negative (20)

In a confidential out-of-court settlement this past March, William “Wild Bill” Turnage of the Adams Trust pledged to stop calling Team Norsigian names while Team Norsigian promised to stop using Ansel Adams’s name to validate the anonymous negatives Rick Norsigian bought at a yard sale. Turnage has, at least publicly, kept his part of the bargain. Whether Team Norsigian has done the same I can’t say for sure. […]

Polaroid Collection: Update 24

A most perplexing series of grandiose, self-flattering, and wildly inaccurate statements has appeared in a press release posted at the website of WestLicht Schauplatz für Fotografie in Vienna, the museum that acquired the portion of the former Polaroid Collection designated by the Trustee for the Minneapolis Bankruptcy Court as the “Swiss Assets,” which resided until recently in the holdings of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland. My concern remains the issuance of false and misleading statements that, inevitably, go viral and contaminate the knowledge base. […]

Norsigian/Adams: Game Over?

The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, PRS Media Partners, LLC and Rick Norsigian appear to have decided to bury the hatchets ― or at least to have achieved a Mexican standoff. They’ve asked the Court to dismiss the Trust’s complaint and Team Norsigian’s counterclaim without prejudice. A spokesperson for Team Norsigian has assured me that (a) the team’s authentication efforts will continue ― under the guidance of recognized experts, one hopes, and involving strict forensic testing ― and (b) that they will continue to press their lawsuit against the University of Arizona-Tucson charging illegal civil conspiracy. […]

New Site: Teaching Photography

I’ve taken a few weeks off from writing posts for this blog in order to develop and launch a new website, Teaching Photography, at teachingphoto.com. This site will serve as a resource for teachers in BFA, MFA, PhD, and continuing-education photography programs and departments of related subjects ― photo history, criticism, and theory; media studies; […]

Norsigian/Adams: Halftime Show (1)

Most-favored-photographer status for Ansel Adams at Yosemite National Park apparently goes back at least as far as 1941, and includes documented special treatment by the Department of the Interior. This included a waiver enabling him to draw down a federal government salary while also enjoying the profits from best’s Studio, his concession at Yosemite ― a conflict of interest according to the policy of the Department of the Interior. […]