Scope and arrangement
The Fred Fehl photographs collection is arranged by format into two series: photographic prints and published materials. The subseries are then arranged alphabetically.
The collection is predominantly comprised of black and white 5" x 7" to 16" x 20" prints that capture dance performances, mostly in New York City, from 1940-1993. Best represented are the American Ballet Theatre; the Joffrey Ballet Comapny; the Harkness Ballet; the Bolshoi Ballet; and the New York City Ballet. Numerous other dance companies are also represented, such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo; and the Martha Graham Dance Company.
In addition to photographs of performances, there are occasional shots of rehearsals, studio shots, and individual dancer portraits. One subseries is comprised of televised ballet productions from the 1960s. At the end of the New York City Ballet prints, there is one folder of xerox copies of George Balanchine photographs. These copies are numbered and have their own inventory preceding them within the folder. This inventory is available on the archives portal as an additional resource. Additionally there is a small amount of New York City Ballet negatives located at the end of the NYCB print series and are arranged by numbers designated by Fehl.
The second series, Published materials, represents Fehl's dance photography as reproduced in newspapers, magazines and other media. Included are clippings, magazine covers, sound recording covers, and book covers. Some of these publications were on display at an exhibition of Fehl's career in 1976 at the NYPL's Library of the Performing Arts.