Scope and arrangement
The David Libidins photographs consist of photographic materials including (primarily) silver gelatin prints, black and white negatives, and a scrapbook created and collected during Libidins' career as a dance administrator and manager, as well as personal and family snapshots. Much of the collection features studio headshots and professional documentation of primarily ballet performances and candid photos of his family and personal life.
The majority of prints and negatives are black and white, but some color prints and transparencies are in the personal collection. The majority of professional prints are 8x10, and personal prints vary from 2x3 to 11x14. The majority of negatives are individually cut, black and white 120 film.
The professional prints in the David Libidins photographs feature headshots of dancers in full costume, demonstrating performance and some stage documentation. A photocopied list denotes some numeration and caption information for the Maurice Seymour photographs. Personal photographs include Libidins personal life, friendships, and hobbies (including his passion for fishing).
The scrapbook contains personal photographs, primarily prints from the negatives in this collection and some ephemera from his career. Each of the pages had been removed from its binding and were kept in their original order.
Headshots and professional photographs of ballet dancers are from the late 1930s through the 1950s (with the bulk of materials being in the 1940s). Photographs with unidentified dancers or photography studio are grouped together. Some Studio Iris photographs do not have an identifying stamp on the verso, but duplicates confirm they are from the same creator. There are photographs from studios and photographers throughout Europoe, including Monte Carlo, Paris and London as well as some studios based in the United States. Most productions are unidentified, but a large part of the Studio Iris and Studio Lipnitzki photographs document the 1939 ballet Le Rouge et Noir which set and costume design was created by the visual artist Henri Matisse. Other performances identified include Bacchanale, Les biches, Ghost Town, Sheherazade, and Les Sylphides. Dancers are rarely identified with the exception of Libidins' wife Anna Scarpova, his friend Igor Youskevitch, Agnes de Mille, Fred Franklin, Igrouchka, Leanora Marra, and Nini Theilade by a note on the verso.
Personal photographs contain Libidins' home and personal life. Often documenting summer vacations, holidays and travel with friends and family. The scrapbook contains mostly prints from the negatives in this series, but also contain photographs of Libidins and Anna Scarpova attending theater openings and greeting dancers. Some pages have programs or ticket stubs from performances affixed.
Arrangement
Professional photographs are arranged alphabetically by photography studio, and personal photographs have separated negatives, but have primarily been kept in their original order.