Abstract
The Bill Hughes Photographs (approximately 1980-2012) contains negatives, slides, prints, proofs, and born digital images created by local photographer and photojournalist Bill Hughes for publications including Las Vegas CityLife, Las Vegas Business Press, Las Vegas Weekly, as well as commercial clients. A portion of prints in the collection consist of modeling photographs Hughes took as part of his business. The digital images represent a variety of clients, and feature local bands, DJs, and performers in nightclubs and bars on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas. Also included in digital files are portraits, artistic photographs and self-portraits, and material used for Las Vegas Weekly, CityLife, and Business Press.
Finding Aid PDF
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Scope and Contents Note
The Bill Hughes Photographs (approximately 1980-2012) contains negatives, slides, prints, proofs, and born digital images created by local photographer and photojournalist Bill Hughes for publications including Las Vegas CityLife, Las Vegas Business Press, Las Vegas Weekly, as well as commercial clients. A portion of prints in the collection consist of modeling photographs Hughes took as part of his business. The digital images represent a variety of clients, and feature local bands, DJs, and performers in nightclubs and bars on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas. Also included in digital files are portraits, artistic photographs and self-portraits, and material used for Las Vegas Weekly, CityLife, and Business Press.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Some digital images contain full nudity due to the nature of the photoshoot and are noted at the folder level of the collection inventory. Please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives at special.collections@unlv.edu for additional information.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Digital files are in rough chronological order. Physical materials remain in the order they were received.
General Note
Legacy media is stored in box 17.
Biographical / Historical Note
William "Bill" Joseph Hughes, Jr. was raised in Texas, and he graduated from St. Joseph Academy High School in Brownsville, Texas and Texas A&M University in College Station. Hughes came to work in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1990s. Beginning in 1992, Hughes worked for Las Vegas New Times, later renamed Las Vegas CityLife in 1996. The publication was later purchased by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Hughes worked there as a photographer and photo editor until January 2009 when he left to be a freelance photographer. His subjects and work ranged from portraits, to concerts and nightclubs, to scenic views of the city but always caputured the story of modern Las Vegas.
Hughes was the recipient of numerous awards, and known throughout Las Vegas for his vibrant and dynamic photographs of Las Vegas, its culture, and its inhabitants. Bill Hughes passed away April 16, 2021.
Sources:
"Bill Hughes, former RJ photographer, dies at 65," April 21, 2021. Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Photographic Memory: remembering photojournalist Bill Hughes," April 2021. KNPR Desert Companion's Fifth Street Newsletter.
Preferred Citation
Bill Hughes Photographs, approximately 1980-2012. PH-00402. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1br15
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2021 by Laurie Hughes; accession number 2021-099. The collection was acquired by Visual Materials Curator, Aaron Mayes.
Processing Note
In 2022, Sarah Jones ingested digital images off optical discs and created access copies by converting TIF, NEF, and EPS files into JPGs. Physical prints were reboxed and a minimal inventory was created. In 2023, Raymundo Aramburo rehoused the slides and negatives and created a detailed inventory using information on envelopes. Sarah Jones loaded it into ArchivesSpace.
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Appraisal Note
Sarah Jones performed minimal appraisal on the digital files. Temporary files were deleted and three optical discs were removed that contained commercially available material and was not representative of UNLV Special Collections and Archives collecting scope.