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Jamey Stillings Photograph Collection (PH-00380)

Abstract

The Jamey Stillings Photograph Collection (2009-2019) is primarily comprised of photographs taken by professional photographer, Jamey Stillings, of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and the Hoover Dam project, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project, and the Crescent Dunes Solar project. The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and the Hoover Dam project depict the construction of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge from 2009 to 2012. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project depict aerial views of Ivanpah Solar in the Mojave Desert of California from 2010 to 2014. The Crescent Dunes Solar project consists of a range of aerial and ground-based work documenting SolarReserve's Crescent Dunes Solar, a 110MW concentrated solar plant with molten salt storage near Tonopah, Nevada, from 2014 to 2015.

Finding Aid PDF

Date

2009 to 2019

Extent

882 digital_files (10.140 GB; Transferred electronically, no physical carrier)

Related People/Corporations

Scope and Contents Note

The Jamey Stillings Photograph Collection (2009-2019) is primarily comprised of photographs taken by professional photographer, Jamey Stillings, of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and the Hoover Dam project, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project, and the Crescent Dunes solar project. The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge photographs depict the construction of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge from 2009 to 2012. The photographs primarily depict workers building the bridge, including photographs of ironworkers, the arch, the temporary pylons, the arch keystone, and the piers. The photographs also depict aerial views of the bridge, the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River, Black Canyon, and the surrounding area. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System photographs primarily depict black and white aerial photographs of Ivanpah Solar located in the Mojave Desert of California from 2010 to 2014. The Crescent Dunes Solar project consist of 265 color and 20 black and white photographs documenting SolarReserve's 110MW concentrated solar plant in Tonopah, Nevada. Documentation on the Ivanpah and Crescent Dunes projects along with artist statements are also included in the collection.

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

This material is protected by copyright. Personal, including educational and academic, use of this material is without restriction but acknowledgment of Jamey Stillings and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Libraries is requested. Commercial use of any portion of this material is prohibited. Contact the copyright owner, Jamey Stillings, for more information.

Arrangement

Collection has been arranged into three series:

Series I. Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and Hoover Dam, 2009-2012;

Series II. Evolution of Ivanpah Solar, 2010-2014;

Series III. Crescent Dunes Solar, 2014-2019.

Biographical / Historical Note

Photographer Jamey Stillings was born in 1955 and grew up in Oregon. Stillings is the principal photographer for Jamey Stillings Photography, Inc. He has a BA in Art from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and an MFA in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Stillings’ work spans fine art, documentary, and commissioned projects including The Bridge at Hoover Dam and The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar.

As of 2017 Jamey Stillings lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Esha Chiocchio, and their two children.

The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge spans the Colorado River in Black Canyon southwest of the Hoover Dam. The bridge was part of a project to reroute U.S. 93 from the bottleneck of the Hoover Dam. At 890 feet tall and 1,900 feet long, it is the second tallest bridge in the United States and the longest single-span concrete arch bridge in the western hemisphere. Construction began in 2005 on a $240 million project to alleviate traffic near the Hoover Dam and to provide a shorter route for commercial trucks. The bridge alone cost $114 million. The bridge is named in honor of former Nevada governor Mike O’Callaghan and former professional football player Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Army. The Hoover Dam, also known as the Boulder Dam, was constructed on the Colorado River in Black Canyon near Las Vegas, Nevada from 1931 to 1936 during the Great Depression. The dam impounds Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir, and it provides hydroelectric power to Nevada, Arizona, and California. The dam was built by workers employed by the joint venture of construction companies called Six Companies, Inc. Six Companies was chosen by the Bureau of Reclamation after winning a bid to construct the dam. The Hoover Dam was dedicated in 1935 and began operations in 1936. Stillings’s photographs of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge were collected in the book The Bridge at Hoover Dam, published in 2011 by Nazraeli Press.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is renewable energy project in the Mojave Desert of California generating power to sell to PG&E and Southern California Edison. Bechtel engineering company built the facility as a joint effort of NRG Energy, Inc., Google, and BrightSource Energy. Ivanpah Solar began commercial operation in 2013, delivering power to PG&E and Southern California Edison. At 377 megawatts, Ivanpah Solar is considered the world’s largest concentrated solar facility. In 2010 Stillings commenced a three-and-a-half year aerial photography exploration over the future site of Ivanpah Solar. Photographs from the project have been exhibited around the world and has received several accolades. The photographs were compiled in a book titled The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar that was published in 2015 by Steidl.

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, developed by SolarReserve and owned by Tonopah Solar Energy, is the first concentrated solar power plant with a central receiver tower and advanced molten salt energy storage technology. Crescent Dunes began operation in September 2015 and was shut down in 2019 when Nevada Energy, the project's sole buyer, terminated the Power Purchase Agreement for failure to produce the contracted solar power production. Photographs of Crescent Dunes were taken by Stillings between June 24, 2014 and October 9, 2015. The photographs are part of a documentation project by Stillings on global renewable energy development titled CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: Renewable Energy and the Shifting Human Landscape. Photographs from the project have been exhibited and published in National Geographic, Time, and the New Republic.

Related Collections

The following resources may provide additional information related to the materials in this collection:

Virginia "Teddy" Fenton Photograph Collection on the Hoover Dam and Boulder City, Nevada, 1920-1985. PH-00022. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Burrell Lawton Photograph Collection on the Hoover Dam, 1931-1934. PH-00120. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Preferred Citation

Jamey Stillings Photograph Collection, 2009-2019, PH-00380. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Acquisition Note

Materials were purchased in 2014, 2016, and 2019 from Jamey Stillings; accession numbers 2014-031, 2016-039, and 2019-040.

Processing Note

Accession 2014-031 materials were processed by Digital Collections staff. In 2015, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Lindsay Oden wrote the collection description in compliance with current professional standards. In 2017, Tammi Kim and Karla Irwin processed the 2016-039 addition and revised the finding aid. In 2020, Karla Irwin processed the 2019-040 addition and revised the finding aid.

Resource Type

Collection

Collection Type

EAD ID

US::NvLN::PH00380

Finding Aid Description Rules

Describing Archives: A Content Standard
English