Photographic prints, negatives, slides,
correspondence, printed material, scrapbooks, and ephemera document the life and work
of
American photographer and fashion consultant Ferne Koch.
Call Number:
Photography Collection PH-01251
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. Part of this collection is housed off-site and may require up to three business days’ notice for access in the Ransom Center’s Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting this material: reference@hrc.utexas.edu. Negatives cannot be paged to the Reading and Viewing Room without advance notice and curatorial permission. For additional information, please contact the Curator of Photography: photography@hrc.utexas.edu.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable
living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals
may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy
may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be
deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University
of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the
owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright
holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Center's Open Access and Use Policies.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation:
Ferne Koch Papers and Photography Collection (PH-01251). Harry Ransom Center, The
University of Texas at Austin.
Ferne Koch (née Goodman) was an American photographer and fashion consultant born
in
Houston, Texas, on April 8, 1913. Her interest in photography began in the 1940s as
an aid
to her work in the New York fashion industry, but it quickly expanded to all areas
of her
life.
In 1947, she married Arthur C. Koch, an engineer and World War II veteran with a strong
interest in the arts. The two traveled extensively throughout their lives together,
exploring Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the United States. Ferne also traveled
extensively on her own while working as a fashion consultant researching lace, bridal
designs, and new clothing styles. During every excursion she took many photographs
both in
the course of her work and in artistic pursuits.
During the Korean War, Arthur Koch was recalled by the Army and stationed at Ft. Rucker
in
Daleville, Alabama. As Ferne adjusted to the life of a war bride, she photographed
the lives
of the residents of the Wiregrass region. These images, and others taken throughout
the
southeast, would go on to earn her national recognition. From 1951 to 1961, she was
represented by the New York photographic agency, Pix, and she exhibited her work in
Houston,
Seattle, and New York.
From the 1960s through the mid-1980s, her work was not exhibited, but in 1986 she
began
printing and exhibiting her photographs once more. In 1989, she was an invited exhibitor
in
the 20th Rencontres International Photographie, in Arles, France. The following year,
her
work was exhibited in Houston, Texas, at the international FotoFest Biennial. And
when
Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics in 1996, her work was featured in a show at the
High
Museum of Art.
Ferne Koch passed away on October 13, 2001, in Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas.
Sources
Dallas Museum of Art. Beaux Arts Ball [auction catalog]. Dallas, Tex.:
Dallas Museum of Art, 1997.
"Ferne Koch," Afterimage Gallery, accessed August 3, 2021,
https://afterimagegallery.com/koch.htm.
Scope and Contents
Photographic prints, negatives, slides, correspondence, printed material, scrapbooks,
and
ephemera document the life and work of Ferne Koch. The collection is organized into
the
following four series: I. Photographic Materials; II. Fashion Files; III. Personal
Files;
and IV. Works by Others.
Koch's photographic output is arranged chronologically, with materials being grouped
by
location per the creator's original order. Large prints are housed together in flat
boxes,
and all negatives have been separated to box 14. Featured prominently are photographs
taken
in Daleville, Alabama, Blakely, Georgia, and Paris, France. Also present are photographs
taken during several trips to Europe, throughout the United States, Mexico, and the
Far
East, among others.
Koch devoted most of her professional life to fashion. Series II. documents her work
in
this field with both photographic, print, and manuscript materials. Included are 35nn
slides
that Koch used as presentation tools. Also present are research materials and materials
relating to her involvement with Fashion Group, a professional organization that caters
to
those working in the fashion industry.
Series III. contains materials pertaining to the exhibition of Ferne Koch's photographs,
several of the Koch family's homes, their travels and involvement in the arts, as
well as
family photographs, scrapbooks, and correspondence. The exhibition materials contain
mostly
snapshot photographs of Koch at events in the 1980s and related printed materials.
Some of
these appear again in scrapbooks, as do an array of materials related to travel, fashion,
and the arts. The correspondence, which dates from 1942 to 1997, pertains to all areas
of
Koch's life and work.
Included in Series IV. are prints by other photographers, including Jameson Baker,
P.
Greenberg, and Debora Hunter.
Related Material
An additional photographic print (991:0028:0001) by Koch is located in the Ferne Koch
Photography Collection (PH-02458).
Separated Material
Housed separately, for preservation purposes, are 58 home movies Koch made during her travels between the 1940s and 1980s. For more information, please contact the Center's Reference and Research Services staff: reference@hrc.utexas.edu.
