M. Halberstadt Illustration Photography,
243 Vallejo Street,
San Francisco,
1959 – 1974.
Yes! My dad. The studio was my home away from home and where I worked starting as a summer grunt into his studio assistant. My formative years being here introduced me to the working life in a commercial studio. From mixing chemicals to cleaning the floors, the prop romm and washing the stemware used in his photographs. I enjoyed every minute, but quickly learned I was not cut out to be a commercial photographer. His studio assistants included those he traded with Ansel Adams, Gerry Sharpe and Alan Ross and those who went on to the San Francisco Art Institute; Blair Stapp and Jerry Burchard. His partners included Jack Allen, one of the greatest art directors and photographer of his time, Walter Swarthout came from Irving Penn’s studio in New York.After my father’s passing in 2000 we were found his portfolio and many of his original transparencies that hadn’t been seen for years and never digitized. 3 years later they had been scanned, restored and archived in the Schields Library at the University of California, Davis campus. Listed here under digital restoration and color correction.