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Creator
Fertik, Irene
Call number
*MGZEB 24-0001
Physical description
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Irene Fertik photographs, *MGZEB 24-0001. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Irene Fertik is a photojournalist and freelance photographer. The Irene Fertik photographs contain negatives, contact sheets, and black-and-white prints of Black dancers and dance companies from the 1960s through the 1970s.

Biographical/historical information

Irene Fertik, a Philadelphia native, has worked as a photojournalist and freelance photographer for over fifty years. Her photographs have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Time magazine. Fertik worked as a staff photographer at The Burlington Free Press in Vermont for six years, then as University of Southern California's staff photographer for fifteen years. Her work has been exhibited at the African American Museum in Los Angeles, the Gershman Gallery in Philadelphia, the United Nations in Switzerland, and the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C. She taught photography at Otis-Parsons in Los Angeles, the University of Vermont, and the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Scope and arrangement

The Irene Fertik photographs represent various Black dancers and dance companies from 1969 to 1977, hailing mostly from New York City.

The photographs depict studio rehearsals, performances, classes, portraits, and special events. Companies photographed include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Choreo-Mutation, Chuck Davis Dance Company, Fred Benjamin Company, La Rocque Bey School of Dance Theatre, International Ballet, National Jamaican Dance Company, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company, and Rod Rogers Dance Company.

Dancers photographed include Frank Ashley, Marie Brooks, George Faison, Dianne McIntyre, Eleo Pomare, Clyde Morgan, Carla Maxwell, Walter Nicks, and Otis Sallid, among others.

The majority of the photographs are black-and-white 35mm film negatives, with contact sheets, prints, and some color 35mm slides. While most of the photographs are identified by dancer name or company, some are labeled only with a first name or initials of the subject with no other context.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Irene Fertik in 2015.

Processing information

Processed by Tara D. Strongosky in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor