By Ann Christiansen
Title: John C. Cobb Photographic Collection, 1943-2004
Predominant Dates:2002-2004
ID: RG2/039
Creator: Cobb, John Candler, II (1919-2016)
Extent: 0.25 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged by medium into two series as follows: Series 1: Photographs and Series 2: Negatives. The folders are arranged according to series and subseries, and alphabetically within each subdivision.
See the individual series descriptions for more information.
Languages: English
Dr. John C. “Jock” Cobb II was a staff photographer and ambulance driver with the American Field Service (AFS) during World War II. The bulk of the John C. Cobb Photographic Collection consists of digitized photographs and negatives (with commentary), which were scanned from his original photographs and negatives taken during his time with AFS in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy from 1942-1944.
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.
Alternate Extent Statement: 1 box
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital photographs can be accessed through the online finding aid, and digital negatives can be accessed on compact discs in the AFS Archives only if permission is requested in advance. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or reproduce material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the AFS Archives. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs as the source and a credit line for the photographer are required.
Acquisition Method: This collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Dr. John C. Cobb in various stages, and was finalized in 2011
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Related Materials: For more photographic prints and negatives from the American Field Service (AFS) and other AFS staff photographers during World War II (including other photographic images by Dr. John C. “Jock” Cobb not represented in this collection), see RG2/002, the World War II Photographic Collection. For an oral history interview conducted with Cobb, see RG4/002, the AFS Oral History Collection. A copy of Cobb’s book, Fragments of Peace in a World at War, Photographs, Poetry, and Perspective (Animist Press, 2011) is available in the AFS Memorial Library.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; John C. Cobb Photographic Collection; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: This collection was partially processed by Ann Christiansen in 2011. Finding aid written and encoded in EAD by Ann Christiansen in December 2011.
This series contains two original photographic prints, as well as 107 digitized photographs (stored on six compact discs), which were scanned between 2002 and 2004 from original photographs taken by Cobb during his time with the American Field Service in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy from November 1942-April 1944. The digital photographs were scanned individually as 600 dpi TIFF files, and often include handwritten commentary. All photographs (digital and prints) document the lives of the ambulance drivers while serving overseas in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy, including their work and leisure time. This series also includes a printed text document with commentary on the digital photographs and a finalized digital text document with commentary by Cobb (stored on a separate compact disc.)
With the exception of the last subseries, the arrangement is based on Cobb’s labels given to the digital files, named for the different theaters of war as follows: Subseries 1A: Middle East; Subseries 1B: North Africa; Subseries 1C: Italy; and Subseries 1D: Commentary. The titles, descriptions, dates, identification numbers, and locations of the digital photographs available online were provided by John C. Cobb. All text was left as originally written, though if clarification was necessary it was included in brackets; for example, “HQ” is clarified as “Headquarters” in brackets.
See the individual subseries descriptions for more information.
This subseries includes thirty-one digital photographs (some with handwritten commentary) depicting the American Field Service in the Middle East, including ambulance drivers at work (fixing ambulances and vaccinating local civilians), life in the desert, portraits of individual drivers, local civilians, and the landscapes originally taken between November 1942 and February 1943 and digitized in 2004.
The digital photographs in this subseries are arranged according to the file names assigned by Cobb, and are accessible online. The titles, descriptions, dates, identification numbers, and locations of the digital photographs available online were provided by John C. Cobb. All text was left as originally written, though if clarification was necessary it was included in brackets; for example, “HQ” is clarified as “Headquarters” in brackets.
This subseries includes two photographic prints that were part of Cobb’s “Desert Life” series, as well as thirty-one digital photographs (some with handwritten commentary) depicting American Field Service ambulance drivers working and socializing (including images of the field hospital), local civilians, portraits of individual ambulance drivers, and images of wounded soldiers in North Africa originally taken between March 1943 and September 1943 and digitized in 2004. The “Desert Life” photographic prints depict ambulance drivers performing maintenance on ambulances; these are not digitized, but there are matching digital negatives for these prints in Series 2.
The photographic prints are stored in a separate folder than from the compact discs containing the digital images. The digital photographs in this subseries are arranged according to the file names assigned by Cobb, and are accessible online. The titles, descriptions, dates, identification numbers, and locations of the digital photographs available online were provided by John C. Cobb. All text was left as originally written, though if clarification was necessary it was included in brackets; for example, “HQ” is clarified as “Headquarters” in brackets.
This subseries includes forty-five digital photographs (some with handwritten commentary) depicting America Field Service (AFS) ambulance drivers working and socializing (including images from a Christmas party), portraits of ambulance drivers, local civilians, and landscapes (including images of buildings that were destroyed by bombs) in Italy originally taken between October 1943 and April 1944 and digitized in 2004.
The digital photographs in this subseries are arranged according to the file names assigned by Cobb, and are accessible online. The titles, descriptions, dates, identification numbers, and locations of the digital photographs available online were provided by John C. Cobb. All text was left as originally written, though if clarification was necessary it was included in brackets; for example, “HQ” is clarified as “Headquarters” in brackets.
