Scope and Contents: The bulk of the John C. Cobb Photographic Collection consists of digitized photographs and negatives, which were scanned sometime between 2002 and 2004 from his original photographs and negatives taken during his time with the American Field Service (AFS) in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy from 1942-1944. The digitized photographs and negatives include handwritten commentary, often written directly on the images. The collection also includes two photographic prints (dated 1943), commentary in a Word document and computer printout (different from the handwritten commentary on the digital items), as well as computer printouts and reprints of scanned negatives.
The original photographs and negatives (most of which are not with this collection) were taken on one of the two cameras he used during the war, a 35mm Voigtlander with a 50mm Tessar lens and 35 mm fixed-focus Argus automatic flash camera that had a wide-angle lens. The digital files reproduced in this collection were scanned before coming to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs in 2004. Cobb’s book, Fragments of Peace in a World at War, Photographs, Poetry, and Perspective (Animist Press, 2011) contains many (though not all) of the same photographs and commentary that are present in this collection.
See the individual series descriptions for more information.