BIO
Nancy Clendaniel

Portrait of Nancy Clendaniel, January, 1980, LA, CA. Photo by Betty Bennett. B&W 35mm negative.

Photojournalist Nancy Clendaniel is best known for her work during the 1980’s as Wolfman Jack’s personal photographer, and the house photographer for The Beverly Theatre, in Beverly Hills, CA. Nancy has created iconic images of legendary musical artists including Count Basie, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Cyndi Lauper, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Manhattan Transfer, and Tina Turner. In addition to her photography, Clendaniel is also an accomplished archivist. In 2003, in affiliation with Apple Ltd. and L.E.G. Productions, she served as the archivist for Bruce Karsh, cataloging his collection of photographs, negatives and memorabilia from The Beatles’ films – “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help.” Twelve years later, in 2016, Nancy collaborated with Bruce Karsh’s wife, Martha Karsh, who created the magnificent hardback book “The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night: A Private Archive” as a surprise 60th birthday present for her husband. 

Clendaniel is now based in Seattle and, in addition to her work in the music industry, specializes in theatrical, travel, and editorial photography. To view more of her work please visit her website - NancyClendaniel.com.

PROJECT
Betty Nettis Bennett
2005 

I was one of the first recipients of the Peter Palmquist grants funding historical photographic research in 2005. I was honored to be able to use the funding to move forward with promoting the work of my friend and mentor, theatrical photographer extraordinaire: Betty Nettis Bennett. 

Portrait of John Drew Barrymore, 1985, Hollywood, CA. Photo by Betty Bennett.

Initially begun as a pet project between myself and Peter Palmquist, this award allowed me to expand efforts of preserving & promoting the visibility of Betty's work. This was achieved by creating original prints from her photographic archives and incorporating them, along with biographical information, into a website.  Soon after the website was created, I was contacted by a representative from Dickinson College (in Carlisle, Pennsylvania) with a request for images from Betty's archive that they hoped would serve as a special addition to the Dickinson College Arts Award presentation to actor/director/writer - Andre Gregory.

Betty came to know Andre Gregory while working as the house photographer for Philadelphia's renowned "Theatre of the Living Arts" (TLA). Between 1964-67, as one of the first women photographers to break into the field of theatrical photography, Betty captured hundreds of iconic theatrical portraits, production shots, and behind-the-scenes images. In addition, she documented the birth of one of America's top regional theaters. In its heyday, TLA presented ten productions per season and featured troupe members that went on to great success, including: Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Sally Kirkland, Ron Leibman, Estelle Parsons, and Morgan Freeman. 

Portrait of Andre Gregory, 1966. Photo by Betty Bennett.

Squeezing In (Dog on Beach), June 1985, Santa Monica, CA. Photo by Betty Bennett. B/W 35mm negative.

After months of pulling TLA images from Betty's Photographic Archive and personally creating custom black and white prints, her images were shipped to Dickinson College, where they surprised and delighted her old friend, Andre Gregory, during the official presentation on Jan. 24, 2005.

As a portion of the award was used to purchase darkroom supplies and photographic equipment, The Peter Palmquist Award continues to preserve and enhance the Betty Bennett Photo Archives by allowing me to create digital scans and archival prints from her original, black and white, 35mm negatives. 

UPDATE
In September 2018, Nancy published her 3rd book: The JDSSC Experience, a documentary photo project commemorating the 40th Anniversary of John Davidson’s Singer’s Summer Camp. During the summer of 1978, Nancy served as John Davidson’s photographer for his training camp for singing entertainers, on Catalina Island. JDSSC is now considered to be the prototype for programs like 'American Idol.’ Nancy’s book serves to honor and preserve the legacy of entertainer John Davidson and all of the 'original American Idols' who participated. Now recognized as an official part of the history of Catalina Island, Nancy’s JDSSC photographic archives and memorabilia has been donated to The Catalina Island Museum, to insure preservation.

Along with on-going photographic assignments, Nancy is currently involved in the marketing and digital preservation of her photographic archive -The Clendaniel Collection. To view Nancy's work visit NancyClendaniel.com or her Fine Art America Galleries.