Favorite Photograph From Archives Center Collections

Arthur d'Arzien, Celanese Corporation, Bishop, Texas, ca. 1960s. Color transparency.
Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.  AC0314-0000049.

For today’s post, I’ve decided to highlight one of my favorite images among the Archives Center’s photographic collections. This spectacular picture is from the Arthur d’Arazien Industrial Photographs. It’s a dramatic night view of the Celanese Corporation in Bishop, Texas, created in the 1960s at the height of American industrial might. Arthur d’Arazien (1914-2004) documented industry for advertising purposes, annual reports, and magazine illustration, and was one of the foremost experts in this specialized field. He was a master of lighting and the coordination of large-scale, complex industrial setups inside and outside factories, steel mills and similar sites. I met him only once, when he donated his photographic archives to the Museum before moving from Connecticut to Florida, but had many telephone conversations with him, and he was a delightful raconteur. He asked me to contribute an introduction to his autobiography, The Big Picture (Kent State University Press, 2002), which was an honor, and I regret that I was never able to visit him during his Florida retirement.

I’m pleased to be able to honor him in return in this small way. Thanks for the memory, Arthur!


David Haberstich, Curator of Photography
Archives Center, National Museum of American History