Renowned photographer Davidhazy donates prints to MTSU’s Baldwin archive collection

By Stacey Tadlock

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s Baldwin Photographic Archive and Collection has received a significant addition — 20 photographic prints from retired educator and photographer Andrew Davidhazy, a longtime professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Located in Room 2300 of the Miller Education Center at 503 E. Bell St., the Baldwin Collection secured the donation through the efforts of associate photography professor Jonathan Trundle, who has admired and taught Davidhazy’s experimental work for years.

Davidhazy, known for his innovative approaches to photography and for constructing his own equipment to achieve creative effects, said he hopes students will experience his photographs on multiple levels.

“At first, I hope they will elicit curiosity,” he said. “Often viewers get seduced by the technical aspects, but hopefully students will dig deeper and engage with their aesthetic side as well.”

Inspired by Life magazine photographer George Silk, he began experimenting with unconventional techniques that became the hallmark of his work.

“It was rewarding to perceive that some of my photographs caused consternation,” he said. “It provided a bridge to conversation and exchange of ideas and viewpoints.”

Andrew Davidhazy (Photo by John Retallack/Rochester Institute of Technology

For Davidhazy, archives like MTSU’s Baldwin Collection are essential in ensuring photographers’ contributions are not lost.

“The work of many artists passes from this world unrecognized and unnoticed,” he said. “Archives and collections make it possible for their work to extend their creative contributions into the future. This is a good thing.”

Reflecting on his career, Davidhazy shared that his artistic direction shifted after graduate school when his straightforward sports photography was rejected as insufficient for a thesis.

Trundle echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the gift’s impact on MTSU’s students and scholars.

“The donation from Andrew Davidhazy adds to the educational value of the Baldwin Photographic Archive and Collection for the students and visitors by providing a unique genre of images for future observation and study,” Trundle said. “This body of work provides viewers with unique ways that photography can show us a different interpretation of our world and the everyday. My hope for the archive is that it becomes a research destination, and the addition of this body of work adds to the diversity within the collection. I am thankful to Mr. Davidhazy for his generous donation.”

Pictured are a sampling of images donated to Middle Tennessee State University’s Baldwin Photographic Archive and Collection located in Room 2300 of the Miller Education Center at 503 E. Bell Street, by retired educator and photographer Andrew Davidhazy, a longtime professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. (MTSU Photo)

The Baldwin archive continues to grow as a resource for students, scholars, and the broader community, offering access to works that expand understanding of technical and creative photography.

The Baldwin Photographic Collection and Archive inside the Miller Education Center is available to the public by appointment only.

MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is located on the second floor of the John Bragg Building, 1735 Blue Raider Drive. A part of the Department of Media Arts in the Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment, the gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays when MTSU classes are in session. For more information, visit http://baldwinphotogallery.com.

Off-campus visitors visiting the gallery can get a special one-day permit for $2 at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at 205 City View Dr. A searchable campus map is available at http://bit.ly/3IOkyuL.

— Stacey Tadlock (Stacey.Tadlock@mtsu.edu)