The late architectural photographer’s archive has been donated to Cal Poly Pomona and the school is celebrating with “Rand Fest” this weekend
Midcentury Los Angeles was booming with opportunity. The rocketing aerospace, entertainment, oil and leisure industries powered the booming economy and construction sprawled out in every direction. Southern California had long been known for new experiments in modern architecture, and lots of new buildings needed their picture taken. Enter Marvin Rand, and this weekend’s celebration of the famed architectural photographer at Cal Poly Pomona called “RandFest.”
Smith House (1958, Craig Ellwood) Los AngelesCredit: Courtesy the estate of Marvin Rand
Born in Boyle Heights in 1924, the fledgling shutterbug studied photography at Los Angeles City College before being shipped off to Guam during World War II. He was placed in the photography unit and developed pictures on the island. When he returned to L.A., he enrolled at Art Center on the G.I. Bill. There, Rand was taught by legendary designers, including Alvin Lustig, and befriended designer Lou Danziger. “We were the pioneers who were changing Los Angeles from a hick cowboy town to a cultural center,” Danziger told Rand’s biographer. “We all felt like we mattered, and we were on a mission. It was a great time.”
Capitol Records building (1955, Welton Becket and Associates)Credit: Courtesy the estate of Marvin Rand
Soon, Rand’s client list included L.A. icons like Neutra, Schindler, Eames, Ellwood and the titans of L.A.’s 1950s design scene. Rand’s daughter Vicki remembers going to a carnival with the Eameses and all-night parties on Malibu beach with L.A.’s design luminaries. “It was very creative time in L.A.,” Rand tells Los Angeles. “That generation was doing charrettes and talking about postwar Los Angeles and had a very nice camaraderie.” When her dad signed up to take pictures for the biggest firm in town, he described Welton Becket and Associates as his “bread and butter.”
Rand befriended writer Esther McCoy, who brought him on to create images for the Los Angeles Times Home magazine, and the pair reveled in landmarks from an earlier generation. Rand eventually wrote books on Craftsman kings Greene and Greene and pioneering modernist Irving Gill. Rand continued to work in his Venice studio until he died at age 84 in 2009.
Frank Gehry’s renovation of the Hollywood Bowl, 1981Credit: Courtesy the estate of Marvin Rand
Some estimates place the number of images in Rand’s personal archive at 75,000, “but a better way to think about it is the number of decades the collection covers,” says Rand’s daughter Vicki who recently donated the collection to Cal Poly Pomona. “My dad was very much assuming the Getty would take it, having taken Julius Shulman’s archive,” Vicki Rand says. “I tried for years, and it didn’t happen. I considered a couple other places and thought that Bernard Zimmerman and Ray Kappe and a lot of good people my dad admired came out of (Cal Poly) so that’s what happened.”
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Today, the archive is managed by Robert Alexander, chair of the Department of Architecture at the College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona. “(Rand’s) daughter took up the quest to find a location that would be suitable,” Alexander says. “Someplace where it would be accessible, so a state institution is kind of the best scenario because we’re obligated to serve people in the state. It’s our mission to serve students and scholars so it seemed like a good fit.”
Alexander is amazed at the size and excellent condition of the collection, as well as its meticulous organization. Students have begun to scan some of the material with the hopes of making it available online. “Students going through archive practicum class are going through the collection,” Alexander says. “The more we dig into it the more we realize that aside from the famous photos, the figures that Marvin knew were foundational people at our school. Not only did Craig Ellwood teach her but Bernard Zimmerman designed Marvin’s house, and he was one of the founding members of our faculty.”
Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla by Louis Kahn, 1963Credit: Courtesy the estate of Marvin Rand
Saturday’s RandFest event will include remarks by Vicki Rand, a lecture by Emily Bills, co-author of California Captured: Mid-Century Modern Architecture, a book signing, an exhibit of rare photographs and a sale of vintage images that were printed and signed by Rand. Proceeds go to benefit digitization efforts. “The event is to raise awareness and money to start this process,” Alexander says. “Our goal is to have it be accessible through the Online Archive of California.” The professor is confident the photos will be digitized. “It’s not gonna get locked in a cupboard,” Alexander says. “There’s too much momentum behind it.”
Cambridge Investment Inc. Building in Long Beach (1960, Killingsworth, Brady & Smith)Credit: Courtesy the estate of Marvin Rand