George Ceolla Homeless Families Photographs, 1988-1993
name: label: Photographer
content: Ceolla, George, 1940-2011
title: label: Topic
content: Better homes and gardens
topic: label: Topic
content: Homelessness
label: Topic
content: Homeless persons
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Ellen Bassuk, M.D., 2024.
creator: label: Photographer
content: Ceolla, George, 1940-2011
setName: label: See more items in
content: George Ceolla Homeless Families Photographs, 1988-1993
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection documents family homelessness in cities across the United States through the photography of George Ceolla. Ceolla wrote on January 27, 2011: "I regard my early involvement with the Family Homelessness Project, which spanned...1998 to 1993, to be among my most significant career photographic efforts. It permitted in-depth photography of homeless families for an extended period....
These years were an embryonic period, which led to the creation of the National Center on Homeless Families headquartered in Needham, MA. The project began under the guidance of its president and founder Ellen Bassuk, M.D., and the former Editor of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, David Jordan (retired). Together they collaborated in establishing The Better Homes Fund. From this beginning, monthly articles were published in the magazine written by Margaret Daly and illustrated with my photographs. I made some approximately 20,000 black and white negatives and numerous prints of homeless families and caregivers at shelters and elsewhere throughout the United States during this time."

Ceolla wrote to Ellen Bassuk, January 28, 2011, that the photographs were made with Leica R-6 35mm cameras on high-speed black-and-white film. For normal lighting situations he used Kodak Tri-X film processed normally at ASA 400, but for indoor "available light" photographs he utilized high-speed film with special processing techniques. (These documents are part of the collection.)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Cubic feet (4 large boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1988-1993
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1597
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Contact sheets
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is unarranged.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection is unprocessed.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Contact sheets -- 1980-1990
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives (photographic)
scopecontent: label: Content Description
content: Photographic material documenting family homelessness in the United States, consisting of contact sheets, negatives, enlarged prints, and documentary materials.