Cherl Harrison, Photographer
Doren and Photography by Cherl T. Harrison
Doren and Photography celebrates the life and collection of Arnold T. Doren (1935-2003) who was a protégé of Minor White, a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology (1957) and a well-known professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Doren’s dedication to photography resulted in a lifelong pursuit of his own work and decades-long career helping countless students reach their potential. His forty-year research project evolved into a collection of over 100,000 photographs that spanned the entire history of photography. This book presents a segment of Doren’s collection along with his biography and a portfolio of his exquisitely printed photographs. Both Doren’s collected pieces and his own photographs verify his precise eye for a significant and beautifully crafted image as well as his appreciation for diversity in human expression. Of the 59 photographers represented, 38 are internationally recognized. The first recorded biographies for two important photographers, Robert M. Mottar and Joseph Tenschert, (Tenschert and Flack) are included.
The illustrations were reproduced from 58 vintage prints. Five unique photographs by Adál, Lorran Meares, Merry Moor Winnett, Arnold Doren and Consuela Kanaga are one-of-a-kind prints due to the technique or a lost negative. 30 of the photographs have never been previously published. The photographers represented are listed below. Except for the four 19th century photographers for whom no survivors could be located, every person or an authority confirmed her/his biography.
Gary Edward Adams, Tim Barnwell, Karl Blossfeldt, Roberto Brosan, Peter C. Bunnell, Julia Margaret Cameron, Caroline L. Cornish, Pamela W. Crist, William A. Davis, Jerry Dell, Arnold T. Doren, Kurt Eslick, Adelaide Hanscom, Cherl T. Harrison, Jessica Hines, Richard Jaquish, Ellen Foscue Johnson, Consuela Kanaga, William E. Knox, Dorothea Lange, Clarence John Laughlin, Gil Leebrick, Jacquelyn Tait Leebrick, ADÁL (Adal Maldonado), Lorran Meares, John Menapace, Tom Millea, Robert M. Mottar, David Grant Noble, E. M. Newman, Sandy Noyes, Susan Mullally, Willie Osterman, Patrick D. Pagnano, John Pinderhughes, Ruth Pinnell, Constant Puyo, Michael Wilder Read, Arnold T. Rosenberg, Guy de la Rupelle, Henry Sapp, John Scarlata, Ken Van Sickle, Giorgio Sommer, Maggie Taylor, Tenschert and Flack, John Theilgard, George Tice, Jerry Uelsmann, Underwood and Underwood, David Vestal, Sam Wang, Phil Wakeman, Eva Watson Schütze, Minor White, Cordelia Williams, Merry Moor Winnett, Marion Post Wolcott and Lucia Woods.
After seven years of compilation, Doren and Photography was published (April 2015) in a limited edition of 500 copies.
www.blurb.com (155.00) and www.amazon.com (172.56)
Title: Doren and Photography
Author: Cherl T. Harrison
Publisher: Barsina Publishing (Blurb is the printer)
Hardcover / dust jacket, 12 inches square, 182 pages, index, bibliography
ISBN 978-0-9906948-0-9
Library of Congress PCN 2015903453
If your copy is imperfect, you may request a reprint if ordered from Blurb.
Foil stamping from another company is available. Use the contact information below.
An additional reference on Arnold Doren is www.arnolddoren.com
UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT ROBERT MAYO MOTTAR.
December 2, 2018
Phone call from Robert Keith Comer – nephew of Robert Mayo Mottar
He called (Cherl Harrison) in response to a letter mailed to him seeking information about his uncle, Robert M. Mottar
+++++++++++++++++++++
Telephone interview as follows –
Cherl Harrison Do you have any information on your uncle Robert Mayo Mottar?
Robert Comer Yes, I do. First I would like to say that the information you published on Robert Mottar is correct. (The publication is Doren and Photography 2015)
Cherl Harrison Please tell me what you remember about your uncle.
Robert Comer His only sibling, Bonnie Mottar, was my mother who moved to California with her mother in the 1950s. They remained in California where my mother was married and raised her children. I know that Bonnie and her brother Robert were close but rarely visited each other as adults.
When I was dating my first wife (1950) I spent time with Robert Mottar in Westport, CT and he took several photographs of my future wife and myself. I still have those photographs. I did not meet Robert Mottar’s wife, Mary Carlilie Boyd who was out of town. Their home was very nice and there were housekeepers in charge of the upkeep. At that time I did not meet the children but knew there were two daughters and one son. The oldest child, Mary, died young from severe burns. Jill and Peter were the other children.
I remember that Robert Mottar was a US Naval Cadet near the end of World War II. He did not become a pilot but was recruited into the OSS, Office of Strategic Services. In 1947 the OSS became the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency.
Our family often thought that he was involved in a clandestine operation, which was not uncommon for OSS officers. There is a lot of mystery behind his death. He died in Beirut, Lebanon in 1967 where he was reportedly on assignment with Time magazine. The cause of death was never revealed and there was no obituary. The family (especially Bonnie) sought information from Pierre Salinger who was a friend of Robert Mottar. No information was received.
Surprisingly his daughter, Jill Mottar, (1948-2016) was with him in Beirut and graduated from Ahlish Girls School (high school) in 1967.
With Jill’s death in 2016, the only survivor is Peter Mottar (Florida). I met him one time.
Their emotionally upset mother had full custody of the children but chose to have other relatives help to raise Jill and Peter. Their childhood was unsettled.
Jill, who might have been the closest child to her father, was noted as highly intelligent and multi-lingual.
She married in 1971 to George Newell II and had two daughters in Pittsburgh, PA. Unfortunately she passed away in 2016 from cancer. She lost touch with Robert Comer after 1971 when she moved from California to Pennsylvania.
Bonnie and Robert Mottar’s mother was named Louise and was known as an adventurer and an independent woman who visited California, rented a beachfront home and never returned to Chicago, Illinois. Louise and her husband, Samuel were divorced and both remarried.
Cherl Harrison Thank you for this information. Let’s exchange emails.
Robert Comer – Yes. And may I ask why you are doing this research.
Cherl Harrison – I inherited a Robert Mottar photograph along with other well known photographers. It inspired research each photographer and published a book, Doren and Photography about my professor who was an avid collector.
So far today I (Cherl )have not found Robert Mottar in the Naval records or OSS but that is difficult to research.
Obituary for Mrs. Eloise "Jill" Newell (Robert Mottar's daughter)
Mrs. Eloise “Jill” L. Newell, 68, of Pittsburgh, PA passed away, after a long battle with cancer, on Saturday, October 22, 2016 at home