Robert C. May collection, 1900-1993
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Robert C. May collection, 1900-1993
- Creator
- May, Robert C.
- Extent
- 10 cubic feet (61 boxes; 2 films)
- Subjects
- Carpenter, Dennis.
- May, Robert C., 1935-1993.
- Meatyard, Melissa.
- Meatyard, Ralph Eugene, 1925-1972.
- Merton, Thomas, 1915-1968.
- University of Kentucky.
- International Business Machines A/S.
- Lexington (Ky.)
- Ireland
- China
- Agricultural Experiment Station -- Kentucky.
- Artists -- Kentucky -- Lexington.
- Manners and Customs -- Kentucky.
- Buildings -- Kentucky.
- Cemeteries -- Kentucky.
- Churches -- Kentucky.
- Photographers -- Kentucky.
- Photographs
- Arrangement
- This collection is arranged by subject in 11 series: I. Work Prints II. Contact Sheets III. Slides IV. Works of Various Artists V. Agricultural Materials VI. Unidentified Negatives VII. Family Photographs VIII. Travel Photographs IX. Printed Materials X. Miscellaneous Items XI. Films
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Robert C. May was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He attended and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Kentucky in 1956. May was a photographer for the University of Kentucky Agriculture Information Department from 1956-1967. After 20 years in various audio-visual, photographic, and publication management positions with IBM, he retired from the company in 1987. From1986, he was an adjunct faculty member of the University of Kentucky Art Department, teaching courses in photography and photographic history. May was also a member of the Lexington Camera Club from 1952-1972. His photographs have been extensively exhibited locally, regionally and nationally beginning around 1953. Important solo exhibitions of his work were held at Afterimage Gallery in Dallas and Focus Gallery in San Francisco during the 1970s. His work was included in the exhibition, "I shall save one land unvisited, 11 Southern Photographers," which traveled to more than a dozen major museums and galleries throughout the country from 1978-1981. Mr. May's photographs appear in numerous publications and exhibition catalogs. Most notably, his work was featured in the "Discoveries" chapter of the Time-Life series, Photography Year/1976 Edition. In 1989, his book on the history of the Lexington Camera Club, entitled: The Lexington Camera Club: 1936-1972, was published by the University of Kentucky Library Associates. Robert C. May died on March 9, 1993.
- Scope and Content
- The Robert C. May collection contains work prints, contact sheets, slides, works of various other artists, photographs and negatives of agriculture, miscellaneous negatives, family photographs, photographs of Ireland and plants, photographs of China, 1991 University of Kentucky Art Department Photography II portfolio, miscellaneous photographs, two family photograph albums, two films and printed materials which includes; the original receipt of the collection with list of contents, family history material, miscellaneous correspondence and newspaper clippings, Lexington Camera Club Exhibit correspondence, research materials for Camera Club Exhibit, manuscript of Camera Club speech by Robert May 1989, drafts and final booklet for Camera Club Exhibit, booklets with photographs by Robert May, photography catalogues (most featuring the work of Robert May), the 1953 Auratum - Henry Clay High School Yearbook, and the negatives used in final portfolio, 1991.
Contents of the Collection
Work Prints, 1950-1993
The Work Prints series consists of 8" x 10" images of animals, buildings, barns, churches, interiors, trees/buildings, exteriors, cemeteries, miscellaneous, people, women, children, men, nature, fences roads, rocks, trees, superimposed trees, plants, water, winter, flowers as well as published images from the book The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum. The images in Series I are artistic work prints with the majority in black and white. Prints in Box 11 (848-850) and Box 15 (1197-1198) are in color. There are a total of 1,867 8" x 10" work prints that include five color work prints.
Animals
Untitled 1967, The Robert C. May Photograph Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 49
Animals
Buildings - Barns
Untitled 1970, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 70
Buildings - Barns
Buildings-Churches, Interiors, Tree/Building
Untitled 1975, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 87
Buildings-Churches, Interiors, Tree/Building
Untitled 1968, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 52
Buildings-Churches, Interiors, Tree/Building
Untitled 1968, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 59
Buildings-Churches, Interiors, Tree/Building
Buildings - Exteriors
Untitled, ca. 1964, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 43
Buildings - Exteriors
Farm House, near Sadieville, Scott County, KY, 1973 The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 68
Buildings - Exteriors
Cemeteries
Untitled, ca. 1964, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 86
Cemeteries
Miscellaneous
Untitled, ca. 1972, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 64
Miscellaneous
People-Women, Children
Melissa Meatyard Dressed as Old Lady, 1969, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 57
People-Women, Children
People - Men
Untitled 1973, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 67
People - Men
Ralph Eugene Meatyard, 1972, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 66
People - Men
People - Thomas Merton
Bob May Photograph by Ralph Eugene Meatyard (American 1925-1972) The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 5
People - Thomas Merton
Nature-Fences, Roads, Rocks
Along Higbee Mill Road, Fayette County, KY 1974, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 69
Nature-Fences, Roads, Rocks
Nature-Trees
Nature-Trees
Untitled, 1975, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 85
Nature-Trees
Nature-Superimposed Trees
Nature-Superimposed Trees
Nature-Plants, "Swirl Forest"
Haystacks, Shakertown, Pleasant Hill, KY, 1974, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 71
Nature-Plants, "Swirl Forest"
Outside/Inside, 1970, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 62
Nature-Plants, "Swirl Forest"
Water
# 68 from Tree Series, 1975, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 79
Water
Winter
Animals, Buildings, Water, Winter
# 68 from Tree Series, 1975, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 79
Animals, Buildings, Water, Winter
Miscellaneous
My Father, World War I, 1978 Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 91
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Midnight Moment, 1952 Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 27
Miscellaneous
Untitled, 1983, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 94
Miscellaneous
Nature-Flowers
Nature-Flowers
Outside\Inside, 1970, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 62
# 176 from Flower and Tree Series, 1977, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 77
Nature-Flowers
Nature
Untitled, 1975, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 85
Nature
People
"Untitled, 1988, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 93"
People
Untitled, 1968, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 61
People
Contact Sheets
The Contact Sheets series include positive prints of negative strips. A contact sheet is created by placing negatives on photographic paper. They are then exposed and the print is processed allowing the photographer to view multiple images on a single piece of photographic paper. Most of the contact sheets are 8" x 10" in size and black and white. The images include sunflowers, trees, people, flowers, plants, vehicles, animals, buildings, roads, cemeteries, trains, cows, horses, fences, dolls, Robert C. May, Dennis "Bones" Carpenter, churches, children, dogs, and cats. There are a total of 84 contact sheets.
Contact Sheets (84)
Slides, 1950-1993
The Slides series includes approximately 1,350 35mm color slides with content of Robert C. May, his family, vacations, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, the Lexington Camera Club, and medical slides.
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Family Photos, Meatyard (Approximately 150)
Camera Club, May (Approximately 150)
Family, Vacation, Medical, May (Approximately 150)
Works of Various Artists, 1990-1991
The Works of Various Artists series includes work possibly by Robert C. May and other artists including: Melissa Meatyard, Gerry Dartt, Mating, Cull, Marshall Smith, Walz, Pierson Studio, Cranston C. Ritchie, Mary T. Duffy, Hank Chapman, Culest Bynum, Joe Martin, Diane Blazy, Donna Ruskin, Bob Compton, Liz Osbourne, Jennifer Allen, Kristen Bernhard, Joseph David, Sarah Jones, Stephanie Lind, Virginia Martin, Jessica Samuel, John Scowby, Lara Shostle, Diana Stevie, Joel Wilhelmi. There are approximately 97 items including photographs, drawings, paintings, and sculpture.
Works of Various Artists
"Pasturage Carousel, 1990, The Robert C. May Photography Collection University of Kentucky Art Museum page 95"
Works of Various Artists
Works of Various Artists
Photography Portfolio 1991 University of Kentucky Art Department Photography II
Agricultural Materials, 1956-1967
The Agricultural Materials series consists of negatives that were originally in an envelope labeled University of Kentucky Department of Public Information Agricultural Experiment Station Lexington, Kentucky. This series contains mostly 6" x 6" black and white negatives, one color transparency, 35 mm black and white negatives, and contact sheets. Four 6" x 6" black and white negatives are identified as Johnson Grass Control Plots. Examples of content include unidentified people, crops and animals.
Agricultural
Agricultural
Unidentified Negatives
The Unidentified Negatives series contains twenty-one 4" x 5" black and white negatives, one 6" x 9" black and white negative, one 35mm color slide, and 102 6" x 6" black and white negatives. The negatives are of unidentified people and places.
Unidentified Negatives
Unidentified Negatives
Unidentified Negatives
Unidentified Negatives
Family Photographs, 1900-1991
The Family Photographs series contains images of the family of Robert C. May from 1900-1991. The majority of the family photographs are casual snapshots but it does include one daguerreotype of Will McCormick (as identified by a post-it note that was on the wrapping). The identified locations include the states of Kentucky and Florida. Many of the images have writing on the back that is difficult to read. The identified photographs include: Bobbie Carl South Limestone; Carl, Robert Earl May Nine Months Old; E.B. May; Granny, Mother, Aunt Stella, Uncle Johnny, Willie, Aunt Fannie, and Deborah taken at Granny Gaines home in Alton, Kentucky; Owen May, John Francis Cannon; Charity, a pet lamb, and a Collie; Deborah Leach; Cecil "1910"; Uncle Omer 1947; Mother on South Lime 1949; Deborah December 2, 1951; Aunt Stella in Florida; (Boo) now Buddy October 1951; Mother Deborah; Mother and Byron Wilson August 1948; Billy and his five Grandmothers October 1, 1949; Deborah Leach baby picture; Easter Mother and me Georgetown, Kentucky; Mother Cumberland Trail 1937; Deborah; Bess and Deborah; Aunt Fannie Leach; Gaines Home in Fayette County Betty Gaines, Billy, Mary Louise, born in this home; Granny Gaines, Aunt Stella, Uncle Johnny, Uncle Willie, Aunt Fannie, Mother and Deborah; Bill Leach; Bobby Jones 2nd Class Scout Troop 1953; In my living room on Mothers Day 1972 Pattie and Luther; 1977 Bill and Martha May; Mrs. Flowers Home Christmas Me, Serving Punch; Deborah Group of Friends at Mrs. Flowers; 1967 Florida Princess Martha; Me Florida Princess Martha; 1967 Florida St. Petersburg Princess Martha; Taken at School October 1971 Betty Gaines; Deborah Leach 18 years old.
1900-1960
1900-1960
1900-1960
1940-1991
1940-1991
1900-1920
1900-1920
1900-1920
1900-1920
Family Photographs
Family Photographs
Family Photographs
Miscellaneous and Family Photographs 1900-1980
Family Photograph Albums
Travel Photographs, 1991-1992
The Travel Photographs series consist of color photographs and negatives taken during May's travel to Ireland, Japan, and China. The photographs of Ireland are in color and include 53 Polaroid's. The photographs of China and Japan include 20 drug store processed envelopes of color photographs.
Ireland and Plants (Approximately 501)
China and Japan (Approximately 600)
Printed Materials, 1950-1991
The Printed Materials series dates from 1950-1991 and include: the original receipt of collection with lists of contents, family history material, miscellaneous correspondence and newspaper clippings, correspondence of the Lexington Camera Club, research materials for the Camera Club Exhibit, manuscript for Camera Club Exhibit, booklets with photographs by Robert May, photography catalogues featuring the work of Robert May, the 1953 Auratum Henry Clay High School Yearbook, and negatives used in final portfolio.
Original Receipt of Collection With Lists of Contents
Family History Material
Miscellaneous Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings
Correspondence Lexington Camera Club
Research Materials for Camera Club Exhibit
Manuscript for Camera Club Speech by Bob May 1989
Drafts and Final Booklet for Camera Club Exhibit
Booklets with Photographs by Robert May
Photography Catalogues (most featuring the work of Robert May)
The 1953 Auratum, Henry Clay High School Yearbook, Robert May's Senior Year
Negatives used in Final Portfolio
Miscellaneous Items, 1953-1993
The Miscellaneous Items date from 1953-1993 and include one photograph of Robert C. May, Robert May's Henry Clay High School Diploma, one painting, one print, one drawing, one metal sculpture and four photographs.
Oversize Miscellaneous Items
Miscellaneous Items
Films
The Films series contains two 16mm films. Film 1 was produced by Kentucky Educational Television and is labeled "Ralph Eugene Meatyard." Film two is unidentified but contains several color films spliced together and appears to be casual scenes and exteriors of buildings.
KET film on Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Unidentified
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.