Scope and arrangement
The Carol Rosegg photographs are the comprehensive body of work produced by the photographer from 1978 to 2018. Over 4,000 of Rosegg's commercial photography assignments are represented, resulting in a thorough visual record of the New York theater scene, especially from the 1990s through the 2010s.
The collection contains photographs from Rosegg's time as an assistant to 20th Century theater photographer Martha Swope as well as her later independent work, depicting numerous theatrical performances ranging from Off-Off Broadway to Broadway to touring productions and musicals, one-act festivals, dance, and opera and a range of genres including experimental theatre, new works, classics, community theatre, and children's theatre. Vineyard Theatre and Opera, York Theatre Company, the Irish Repertory Theater, St. Bart's Players, and 59E59 theaters are heavily represented. Many of Rosegg's earliest assignments were at the Westbeth Theatre Center. She also regularly documented Latinx and Asian American works at INTAR and the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre respectively.
Since Rosegg and Joan Marcus shared studio space for many years and at times photographed the same productions, it is highly likely that a few of Rosegg's images are located in Marcus' files and vice versa. Researchers of late 20th Century and early 21st Century theater may want to consult both the Carol Rosegg photographs and the Joan Marcus photographs as the collections complement each other. Occasionally slides bear markings attributing them to other Martha Swope and Associates photographers.
The volume of images and their formats for each production varies, but as a whole, the collection contains slides, contact sheets, negatives, prints, and digital images. Occasionally programs, correspondence, and press releases are filed with the photographs to help provide context for more obscure assignments. The vast bulk of the photographs are performance images. Other photographs are studio portraits taken in Rosegg's studio or images depicting dress rehearsals. Productions with longer runs are typically represented by larger quantities of images.
The collection reflects changes in photographic processes over the course of Rosegg's career, with her early assignments rendered primarily on 35 millimeter black-and-white film, New York City Opera (NYCO) performances represented predominantly by color slides, and her 21st century work beginning to contain digital images. Rosegg was an early adopter of digital photography, making the transition from traditional analog processes gradually throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The first production she shot digitally was Avenue Q in 2003. Although Rosegg's electronic records are not yet accessible to researchers, Assignments files and NYCO files from 2003 onward may include digital images. Researchers can check Series III: Additional Material to determine if digital files exist for a given title. Digital image files become more prevalent throughout the collection as the years progress.
The Carol Rosegg photographs are arranged in three series:
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1978-2018167.29 linear feet (402 boxes)
The Assignments Series, the largest in the collection, primarily contains Rosegg's work documenting various Broadway, Off-Broadway, touring productions, and community theater. The vast bulk of the photographs are performance images. Also included are headshot portraits of individual actors and actresses, a few family portrait sessions, and corporate and advertising assignments.
Assignments files typically contain slides, contact sheets, negatives, and prints. Occasionally programs, correspondence, and press releases are present to help provide context for more obscure assignments. Original envelopes used by Rosegg were retained as they frequently bear handwritten notations regarding specific frame numbers and names of cast members. Productions with longer runs are typically represented by larger quantities of images.
Assignments are filed alphabetically by title of the work or, in the case of her non-performing arts assignments, under the name of an individual or company. A few theater companies, such as Ensemble Studio Theatre and Pearl Theatre, are filed under their names, but their productions may be filed separately under the work's title. Rosegg mainly photographed live performances but also studio cast shots taken a few months before a work's opening and "set-ups" onstage. In some cases, the dates reflect when photos were taken by Rosegg, not necessarily when the show was being performed.
Of note are Rosegg's photographs of productions staged by Theater by the Blind, which was later renamed Theater Breaking Through Barriers, an Off-Broadway theatre group focused on artists and audiences with disabilities.
Rosegg occasionally worked beyond the New York City theater world photographing the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., Theatre-by-the-Sea in Rhode Island, Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, and many touring productions across the United States such as Damn Yankees and Chicago.
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1983-201231.88 linear feet (77 boxes)
Rosegg was the primary photographer of the New York City Opera (NYCO) from 1983 until its bankruptcy in 2013. This Series contains over 25,000 slides. NYCO productions are mostly represented by black-and-white and color slides, but some productions include negatives, contact sheets, and prints in addition to slides.
Rosegg maintained her NYCO slides separately from her NYCO negatives, prints, and contact sheets and this is reflected in the physical arrangement of the collection into two Subseries: Slides and Files. Both sections are organized chronologically by year, then alphabetically by title.
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2003-20180.83 linear feet (2 boxes)
The two boxes of Additional Material contain envelopes noting production titles that were shot digitally. These envelopes had been used to store compact discs and DVDs. Some handwritten notes occasionally appear on envelopes. Researchers may wish to consult these two boxes to determine if digital image files exist for a given production.