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Processing the Bill Perlmutter Collection: RAC-CCNY Internship Fall 2023

This blog post was written by Nathaniel Gurrier as part of his Rockefeller Archive Center-CCNY Internship in Fall 2023. Learn more about the RAC-CCNY Internship Program and read about other intern's experiences. The RAC-CCNY Internship Program accepts applications by current CCNY undergraduates for the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.  

During the Fall 2023 semester, I had the privilege to participate in the Rockefeller Archive Center internship in collaboration with the City College of New York Archive and Special Collections. Throughout this semester, there were many things I learned to do while working on an inventory of the Bill Perlmutter collection. Bill Perlmutter was a New York photographer who spent over 50 years traveling to many places, predominantly throughout North America and Europe. This collection consists of over 30 boxes and over 1,000 photographs. Creating this inventory was an experience that I had never had before, but it was an experience that I enjoyed a lot. Perlmutter’s photographs ranged from 1954 to the 2010s, including his self-published books released in the early 2010s. Perlmutter’s area of expertise was black-and-white street photography. Looking through this large collection of photographs, I learned more about his style of work and how it evolved.   

One of the most interesting parts of learning about this collection was seeing how it was organized. The Perlmutter collection was well organized, each box representing a specific country or city. While creating an inventory full of wonderful works, at times it can be shocking and daunting to take on a box with many photographs.    

The largest box that I added to the inventory was during Perlmutter’s trip to Germany from 1954 to 1956 which had a total of 130 photographs. The number of photos in this box was so large that I had to lay them out on the table where I was doing my work, and it filled the entire table with many photographs (pictured). Even though inventorying a box of over 100 works was intimidating and unanticipated, it was a challenge that I faced head-on and enjoyed. Working through this collection, not only did I learn more about the artist, but I also learned how to sleeve photographs, what to do with duplicate works, and understand the artist’s integrity by keeping the works well organized. 

One thing I loved when working on this project was the questions that were posed to me to think deeply about the collection in general: Perlmutter as an artist, Perlmutter as a person, and the changes to his style over time. Many of his photos were focused on children or parents with their children. Perlmutter was able to capture childhood innocence, joy, and universal childhood experiences. In his time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico during the mid-2000s, he even worked on a project that was focused on the idea of youth in this area of Mexico. 

In almost every box there was at least one photograph of a child in it, showing that through his over 50-year career as a photographer, this subject was always important for him to capture, or he always enjoyed seeing these moments in time and wanted to capture it. Another thing that I was able to see was how personable Perlmutter was through his photos. Looking at many of his works, he takes both off-guard photographs and photographs of people looking straight at the camera. In these photos, most people captured looked comfortable, which isn’t a feeling that I would generally associate with being photographed, especially by someone that they don’t know. To get someone out of their shell, to be able to capture blissful and joyous moments, it takes a personality to do so, a person that makes them comfortable to be able to capture living. 

Working on Perlmutter’s collection has also helped me artistically. As someone working towards being a better photographer, seeing this attitude in his works helped me a lot when I worked on photographing strangers and people I know. To me, it can be difficult to ask strangers to take pictures of them, however, looking at Perlmutter’s work, the most important thing when taking pictures of strangers is personability. This has helped me when I take pictures of people doing my best to get them comfortable to get the best shots. 

I’ve only recently begun photography over the past semesters, and looking at Perlmutter’s collection, I was able to learn about some things that are important in being a photographer. One of the most important things is to have a consistent focus on what you want to photograph, where you want to photograph, and the style of the photographs you take. This focus spawns from what interests you the most and what you want people to see. 

Perlmutter loved to travel, spending a lot of time there to both capture moments and acclimate to different aspects of other cultures. Even though Perlmutter photographed many parts of the world, his style was still recognizable. However, every place had a certain feel to it that differed from others, highlighting the differences in location. In most of the places he went, he spent around 2 years there; thus, he was truly able to get an experience of the area that he was in. One of my favorite instances of this was from his time in Italy where he photographed the canal cleaning in Venice in the 1950s. He took advantage of capturing an event that many people wouldn’t see and even offered his photos to be used by news organizations. 

My favorite aspects of his work are in his later years, as Perlmutter utilized the area that surrounds the subject more, relying on the shapes of certain structures, both man-made and naturally created. I also enjoyed a lot of his scenic shots, allowing one to see the interactions of the subject with the space that they were in. This allows the viewer to gain more context on the place through the photograph and an understanding of how people interact with certain unfamiliar areas. 

Perlmutter’s goal is to help the viewer of his work see pockets or moments of life through people’s experiences on the streets around the world. Seeing Perlmutter’s focus made me think about what my focus is on the work that I make. What do I want people to see in the work that I do? How can the way that I shoot my photos aid the viewer in seeing my intentions? Reflecting on this by looking at his work, I was able to gain a better idea of who I am as an artist and what I want people to see through my work. 

Looking at his work, I can say that there is something for every art lover. The thing that is most prominent in Perlmutter's work is that he loved capturing relatable moments in time, highlighting everyday people. Throughout his long career, it was clear that Perlmutter never fell out of love with this art form, and I am glad that I was able to learn more about Perlmutter and his work throughout this semester.   

While interning at the CCNY Archives and Special Collections this semester and working on this project and other styles of work, I was able to grow professionally, artistically, and personally. This was a very fulfilling internship, and I am glad that I was able to be a part of it during this fall semester.