Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
War industry worker at Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland
Date(s)
- 1942-09 (Creation)
Extent
Photograph; safety film; 3 x 4 in.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Alfred Anthony Monner was born on August 1, 1909, in Northeast Portland, Oregon. After spending much of his adolescence in the Kaskela and Madras areas, he later returned to Portland to attend Washington High School. Around this time, he also developed an interest in photography. After briefly attending Linfield College, he worked for Brubaker Surveys doing aerial photography, and as a printer for Photo Art Studio.
From 1936 to 1938, he worked as a photographer for the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, before being laid off. In 1938, he was hired as a photographer for the Oregon Journal newspaper, where he would stay until 1975. During his time as a photographer in Portland, Monner maintained friendships with fellow photographers in the area, including long-time friend Ray Atkeson. In the 1930s, he met Minor White, then a young freelancer living in Portland, and Monner later took master classes from him after White gained national recognition. Monner was also a member of the Oregon Camera Club. Beyond his commercial work for the Journal, Monner maintained a long-term personal interest in photography. He created photographs of Portland's Roma community, still-life scenes, landscapes, and portraits of everyday life in Oregon.
An avid outdoorsman as a young man, Monner was a member of the Mazamas, a mountaineering group in the Portland area, and was later a founding member of the Wy'East Climbers. Despite not considering himself a real climber, he summited Mount Hood 12 times, and also climbed Mount St. Helens. He continued to be a regular climber until the 1960s.
After retiring, Al Monner continued to take photographs for the Portland Art Museum. He died in 1998 after suffering a series of strokes.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
A worker at Albina Engine & Machine Works in Portland squats in front of sheet metal, holding a tool used to spray and shrink galvanized metal. The man is wearing sunglasses and tubes attach to various points along the tool (negative 5 of 25).
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- eng
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Al Monner news negatives; Org. Lot 1284; Box 17-18; 641-5
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Oregon Journal (Firm) (Publisher)